Striking the right balance between boosting business competitiveness and safeguarding consumers' privacy was at the heart of discussions at a workshop on Tuesday on the review of the EU's 1995 data protection rules, organised by the civil liberties committee.
Internet users' "right to be forgotten", the right of individuals to access their own data more easily, stricter safeguards on profiling, the use of data for marketing purposes and data portability were some of the issues raised by MEPs, civil rights and privacy activists, lawyers, internet company representatives and other experts.
"A set of coherent, harmonised data protection rules will boost European businesses' competitiveness and help protect better consumers' rights in the digital age", said Parliament's rapporteur for the new data protection regulation, Jan Philipp Albrecht (Greens/ALE, DE).
The European Commission tabled two proposals (for a directive and a regulation) in January to set up a new legal framework for the protection of personal data in Europe. Parliament, which has a binding say on this issue, has started to work on the Commission texts.
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