Some systems implications of EU Data Protection Directive

At the present time we do not know exactly how the various provisions of the European Union Directive 95/46/FC ‘On the Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Processing of Personal Data and on the Free Movement of such Data’ (1995) will be interpreted but it can be expected to usher in a new data protection regime for most of the European Union. It aims to ‘protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, and in particular their right to privacy with respect to the processing of personal data’ [Art 1.1] and to facilitate ‘the free flow of personal data between Member States’ of the European Union [Art 1.2]. In effect the Directive defines ‘data privacy’ for the EU for the next few decades.