EUROPEAN UNION DATA PROTECTION LAW AND MEDIA EXPRESSION: FUNDAMENTALLY OFF BALANCE

摘要: The European Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC requires all Economic Area (EEA) jurisdictions to provide an equivalent regime protecting the privacy and other fundamental rights freedoms of natural persons in relation personal data processing, whilst also shielding media expression from default substantive requirements as necessary ensure a balance between rights. Through comprehensive coding derogations set out each jurisdiction's protection laws, this article provides first systematic analysis whether has fact been achieved. It is demonstrated that there total lack even minimal harmonization area, with many laws providing for patently unbalanced results especially regards publication sensitive information, which includes criminal convictions political opinion, collection information without notice direct subject. This reality radically undermines protection's twin purposes ensuring free flow rights, outcome remains largely unaddressed by proposed new Regulation. Practical suggestions are put forward ameliorate these troubling inconsistencies within current process reform.