WRITTEN QUESTION E-0312/00

by Marietta Giannakou-Koutsikou (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(11 February 2000)

Subject: Safeguarding citizens' rights in view of the advent of new forms of telecommunications

The development of digital technology and the applications of this technology in modern forms of communication are creating a new situation in all sectors of audiovisual data transmission. The concomitant development of the Internet as a multi-purpose tool which is user-friendly, i.e. easy and cheap to access for ordinary consumers, means that it can also be used as a telephone system. Various types of full duplex telephone services operating through the Internet are already available (the VDOPhone, for instance). The consequences of this are twofold: the development of an Internet telephone system outside any formal legislative framework and the absence in practice of legal safeguards protecting the rights of citizens as regards the confidentiality of communications and personal data. There exists therefore a procedural and operational legislative void which must be filled consistently and in good time in the interests of ordinary citizens.

Will the Commission review the present situation and propose a framework to uphold existing legislative safeguards for citizens' rights in respect of both new forms of telecommunications and conventional forms which are changing in response to new digital standards?

Answer given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(30 March 2000)

Directive 97/66/EC of the Parliament and the Council of 15 December 1997 concerning the protection of personal data and privacy in the telecommunications sector(1) applies to all public telecommunications services regardless of the technology used. As far as it contains no specific provision, the rules of the general data protection Directive 95/46/EC of the Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data(2) apply.

The example mentioned by the Honourable Member, of voice telephony provided over the Internet, is therefore fully covered by existing data protection principles. This implies that the confidentiality of communications by voice telephony over the Internet must be guaranteed by Member States and that service providers must ensure the security of their services. Moreover, in case of residual security risks, as they are likely to exist on a network as open as the Internet, the service providers are obliged to inform their customers of such risks and must explain them how they can obtain better security (e.g. through encryption).

If in practice there is a certain lack of awareness among service providers about their obligations under existing Community data protection and privacy law, this is probably due to the fact that most Member States have only recently transposed Directive 97/66/EC in national law. The national data protection commissioners have an important role to play in raising awareness about data protection principles among service providers and customers. As members of the Article 29 data protection working party, the independent Community advisory body on data protection and privacy, they have already adopted several relevant opinions and recommendations, for example the document confirming the application of Directive 95/46/EC and Directive 97/66/EC to personal data processing and communications on the Internet (available at: http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg15/en/media/dataprot/wpdocs/index.htm).

In addition to legal guarantees, privacy enhancing technologies can reinforce the control that individuals have on their personal data and help prevent such data being compromised on networks. The Commission has initiated some awareness activities on technological developments (e.g. a workshop on privacy enhancing technologies) in this area. Moreover, the Information society technologies programme (IST, part of the Fifth Framework programme on research and technological development (RTD)) includes an action line referring to technology building blocks for trust and security focussing on technologies to empower users to consciously and effectively manage and negotiate their personal rights (IST 2000 II.4.1.).

In conclusion, the protection of personal data and privacy for telecommunications services using new technologies is guaranteed by the existing legal framework. Nevertheless, in the context of the 1999 review of telecommunications legislation, the Commission proposed a technological and terminological update of Directive 97/66/EC to ensure a consistent and technology-neutral application of data protection provisions to communication services. The Commission will submit proposals to the Parliament and the Council before summer 2000.

(1) OJ L 24, 30.1.1998.

(2) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995.