Overview
- The first to take the perspective of the EU Treaties and an actor-based approach
- Describes privacy and data protection as constitutional values that matter in our societies
- Is highly topical in view of recent landmark cases of the Court of Justice of the EU
- Is relevant to the development of a new EU legislative framework on data protection
Part of the book series: Law, Governance and Technology Series (LGTS, volume 31)
Part of the book sub series: Issues in Privacy and Data Protection (ISDP)
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Table of contents (10 chapters)
Keywords
- Art 16 TFEU
- Constitutional guardian of Internet privacy
- Privacy and data protection as constitutional values
- Approach of CJEU in landmark cases
- Unprotected internet
- Right to privacy
- Right to privacy
- Internet and loss of control
- Big data
- Mass surveillance
- Networked societies
- Surveillance by the State
- Surveillance by private companies and governments
- Mandate of the Union under Article 16 TFEU
- Democratic legitimacy of EU action
- European Court of Justice
- DPAs
- Consumer Privacy
About this book
This book examines the role of the EU in ensuring privacy and data protection on the internet. It describes and demonstrates the importance of privacy and data protection for our democracies and how the enjoyment of these rights is challenged by, particularly, big data and mass surveillance.
The book takes the perspective of the EU mandate under Article 16 TFEU. It analyses the contributions of the specific actors and roles within the EU framework: the judiciary, the EU legislator, the independent supervisory authorities, the cooperation mechanisms of these authorities, as well as the EU as actor in the external domain.
Article 16 TFEU enables the Court of the Justice of the EU to play its role as constitutional court and to set high standards for fundamental rights protection. It obliges the European Parliament and the Council to lay down legislation that encompasses all processing of personal data. It confirms control by independent supervisory authorities as anessential element of data protection and it gives the EU a strong mandate to act in the global arena.
The analysis shows that EU powers can be successfully used in a legitimate and effective manner and that this subject could be a success story for the EU, in times of widespread euroskepsis. It demonstrates that the Member States remain important players in ensuring privacy and data protection. In order to be a success story, the key stakeholders should be prepared to go the extra mile, so it is argued in the book.
The book is based on academic research for which the author received a double doctorate at the University of Amsterdam and the Vrije Universiteit Brussels. It builds on a long inside experience within the European institutions, as well as within the community of data protection and data protection authorities.
It is a must read in a time where the setting of EU privacy and data protection is changing dramatically, not only as a result of the rapidly evolving information society, but also because of important legal developments such as the entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation.
This book will appeal to all those who are in some way involved in making this regulation work. It will also appeal to people interested in the institutional framework of the European Union and in the role of the Union of promoting fundamental rights, also in the wider world.
Reviews
“This book will prove a significant resource for those interested in gaining an understanding of the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ of the EU’s approach to protecting its citizen’s data privacy rights. … the well-resourced and comprehensive coverage in this book achieves a readable and intelligible entry point into the subject area for those seeking an understanding of how the EU can act as a guardian ofinternet privacy.” (Kevin T. O’Sullivan, International Journal of Law and Information Technology, Vol. 25 (4), 2017)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Hielke Hijmans has a long standing experience in the public administration and has worked in advisory and management functions for the European Data Protection Supervisor, the European Court of Justice and the Ministry of Justice in The Hague. He is a Dutch national, specialised in EU law and privacy law. In these areas he publicized extensively.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The European Union as Guardian of Internet Privacy
Book Subtitle: The Story of Art 16 TFEU
Authors: Hielke Hijmans
Series Title: Law, Governance and Technology Series
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-34090-6
Publisher: Springer Cham
eBook Packages: Law and Criminology, Law and Criminology (R0)
Copyright Information: Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-34089-0Published: 13 September 2016
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-319-81675-3Published: 12 June 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-34090-6Published: 06 September 2016
Series ISSN: 2352-1902
Series E-ISSN: 2352-1910
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXXII, 604
Topics: IT Law, Media Law, Intellectual Property, Legal Aspects of Computing, European Law, Constitutional Law, Theories of Law, Philosophy of Law, Legal History