Data Protection

This chapter provides an overview of the legal and regulatory background on the Data Protection Directive and its impact on any project. Furthermore, it presents specific requirements and details on data protection issues that are part of national legislation in pilot member states.

• European
• National

European legislation / regulation

Rapid developments in technology have dramatically increased the scale of data sharing and collecting so bringing new challenges in the area of personal data protection. Considering the importance that building trust in the online environment has on economic and social development, the European Union has established a regulation for personal data protection. The existing EU legislation on personal data protection (Directive 95/46/EC), adopted in 1995, intends to protect the fundamental right to data protection and guarantee the free flow of personal data between member states. Currently, a proposal is being discussed for a revised data protection directive.

National legislation / regulation

National regulation is changing quickly for which reason, individual countries are not listed here. The report from SMARTSPACES, containing a few countries, can be found here.

Important

Check the national law and regulation as requirements differ accross Europe! In fact, there might even be regional rules if you work wiht public buildings (residential or non-residential).