It has also taken into consideration the proposed Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on certain legal aspects of electronic commerce in the Internal Market. This Directive is due to come into force shortly and no substantial changes to the proposed draft are anticipated. While the Bill provides a homogenous legal framework it is not prescriptive and it allows flexibility in its development through the issuing of regulations by the Minister for Communications. This flexibility for development is important both in terms of advances in technology and possible changes to the EU directives. The purpose of data protection legislation is to safeguard the individual's right to privacy.
Technology affords the means to amass, correlate and manipulate personal information.
The absence of legislative safeguards may allow abuse of this information. The advance of the information society and the rapid development of telecommunications usher in a new and distinct threat of opportunities for illicit activity. Existing laws do not adequately cater for this threat and new provisions are therefore required. However, the Bill is not based on a single model but seeks to draw on a number of sources.