Better protecting of individuals in the context of international (US) data flows

The National Center for Personal Data Protection, for information and application purposes, informs that following the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the case of “Schrems II”,  Alessandra Pierucci, Chair of the Committee of Convention 108 and Jean-Philippe Walter, Data Protection Commissioner of the Council of Europe publish a joint Statement recalling the relevance and the influence of the Convention for the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data (Convention 108+) in a context of international data flows.

On 16 July 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union invalidates Decision 2016/1250 on the adequacy of personal data protection provided by the EU-US Data Protection Shield. Its main ground for that ruling is that the American legislation cannot adequately guarantee the protection of personal data transferred from the EU, notably in respect of access to these data by intelligence services.

The representatives of the Council of Europe mention that, for years, an increasing number of voices call for democratic and effective supervision of security and intelligence services worldwide to ensure better protection of the rights and fundamental freedoms of people.

The principles of Convention 108+ as well as the strict exception regime it allows, notably in the context of security and intelligence, are strong elements to answer the concerns expressed since Edward Snowden’s revelations. The Chair of the Committee of Convention 108 and the Data Protection Commissioner of the Council of Europe also think that the unique mandate of the Council of Europe, its experience in respect of Human rights, democracy and the rule of law, as well as its opening beyond the European borders (with some of its landmark instruments such as Convention 108 and the Budapest Convention inter alia), make the Organisation an ideal forum to engage in internationally reaching works on the delicate issue of national security services.

The joint Statement of the Chair of the Committee of Convention 108 and Data Protection Commissioner of the Council of Europe can be viewed by accessing the following link: https://www.coe.int/en/web/data-protection/-/to-better-protect-us-when-our-personal-data-falls-into-the-intelligence-trap-