| NOTAS: | "The European Commission's effort to modernize the regulatory framework for the protection of personal data may be necessary, but it carries the underlying risk of being more disruptive than beneficial if certain areas of the proposed regulation are not further clarified. The EC should be clearer in defining what type of data can be considered as anonymized, and therefore not require explicit consent for treatment. The proposed framework is likely to ensure better consistency across EU countries, but may be disruptive for non-EU firms and entail more red tape. The financial impact of the new rules is also far from clear at the moment. Businesses should work with regulators to ensure that more clarity is achieved so that they can continue to innovate, but they should also ensure that consumers’ trust is not undermined.
The EC should have also considered reviewing the rules on data retention for telcos, which have been difficult to comply with and may be incompatible with stricter data protection rules. With a more prescriptive upcoming framework on data protection, telcos may soon face the burden of having to retain data for a long time, for purposes that relate to tackling crime, while having to guarantee higher protection standards." |
