Browsing by Subject "transparency"

Data protection has become a pivotal topic in modern democratic societies. Lawmakers have, however, faced challenges in protecting data in the face of rapid technological growth and development in the online environment. ‘Cookies’ are a prominent tool for website operators that enable the collection and processing of vast amounts of personal data of internet users. The use of cookies is based on user’s consent as required under Article 5(3) of Directive 2002/58/EC (ePrivacy Directive). It is, however, questionable whether cookie consent and notice practices are de facto effective in protecting internet users and providing them control over the use of their data obtained via cookies. The goal of this master’s thesis is to analyse whether the traditional model of consent and notice is the appropriate legal basis for the use of website cookies. The research question is divided into two parts. The first part concerns whether consent and notice are an effective tool in providing control and protection to individuals with respect to personal data processed through internet cookies. The second part concerns whether the EU’s data protection framework provides clear and harmonised rules on cookie consents and notices. It will focus especially on the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (GDPR) and the ePrivacy Directive. This thesis uses mainly the legal doctrinal method and qualitative empirical evidence in answering its research question. After the introductory chapter, this thesis will in chapter 2 define cookies and its purposes, as well as outline the legal framework used in this research. Chapter 3 introduces the reader to the concept of consent and its different components, as well as the transparency principle and the accompanying information obligation. Consent consists of freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous elements. Chapter 4 will then discuss the first part of the research question. It will be seen that cookie consents and notices are burdened by many factors as evidenced through behavioural economics, cognitive and structural problems, as well as other factors. It is concluded, therefore, that cookie consents and notices in their traditional form are not an effective tool in providing control and data protection to internet users. Nevertheless, consent and notice are so enshrined in the EU’s data protection regime that they will not be easily abandoned. Chapter 5 discusses the second part of the research question by looking at practical examples in order to see how websites from the legal sector and different national data protection authorities have complied with cookie consent and notice obligations. It will be seen that cookie rules are interpreted inconsistently by even these websites, which has resulted in noncompliance in some instances. Hence, it is concluded that the GDPR and the ePrivacy Directive have failed to harmonise cookie consents and notices. Chapter 6 will look to the future and discuss briefly the proposed Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications (ePrivacy Regulation) in terms of i) ‘cookie walls’, which basically coerces website users to accept cookies or otherwise they will be denied access to the site or service, and ii) the legitimate interests ground, which has been introduced as an alternative legal basis to consent with respect to cookies in the latest revised draft of the ePrivacy Regulation adopted on 21 February 2020 by the Croatian Presidency. It will be concluded in chapter 7 that the traditional model of consent and notice might not always be the appropriate legal basis for cookies, hence legislators should look into other legal bases as well, such as, the legitimate interest ground. However, whether or not this ground will be able to provide better protection and control to internet users remains to be seen.

Commodity chain data transparency is a growing phenomenon in public discussion and in the private sector. It is an essential way for companies and certification schemes to express their sustainability efforts and values. However, commodity chain data can include questions of power and information asymmetry which can affect the commodity chain stakeholders, such as the producers and the consumers. The Fairtrade movement is known as the defender of the small-scale producers in the so-called Global South and which aims to reduce global poverty. This research focuses on the Fairtrade certified coffee commodity chain data and examines what kind of challenges and needs the commodity chain stakeholders have in terms of data transparency and what potential benefits they receive. The stakeholders include consumers, producers and coffee buying companies. This research relies on the Global Value Chain -framework and examines the commodity chain data in light of power asymmetries. The purpose is to provide a multifaceted review about the questions of commodity chain data and Fairtrade. This research uses qualitative, semi-structured interviews which were conducted with seven participants from different backgrounds, such as the private sector and organizations. Additionally, some complementary data was collected from Fairtrade International and FLOCERT’s websites. The data was analyzed through the lens of qualitative content analysis. The central findings are Fairtrade commodity chain data related challenges, such as confidentiality, information gaps and the different needs of the stakeholders. These somewhat conflicting needs make it difficult to set a level of transparency that would meet the needs of all the stakeholders which in turn provides limited benefits. Nevertheless, despite challenges, Fairtrade is seen as a valid partner, expressing a wider societal significance. When considering commodity chain data transparency, it is important to ask whose interests the data represent. The central conclusion is that the benefits of commodity chain data transparency depend on how well they meet the needs of the stakeholders.

Transparency of the Commission is as important as ever considering the ever-expanding nature of EU’s influence. In current digital era, EU’s access to documents regime is increasingly also conducted through technological solutions assisting and replacing previously predominant tangible and human solutions. An example of the technological solutions equipped for transparency in the context of the Commission are document registers, which are founded in law and created in the name of transparency. However, the practical and legal effects of document registers materialising transparency is largely unstudied aspect of the Union’s transparency. Therefore, this thesis is devoted to examining how we can observe the materialisation of transparency in practice, focusing on the European Commission’s Register of Documents. Aim is to show the (often) hidden ways in which the technological solutions influence transparency in their own right. To be able to study transparency in practice, it is necessary to understand the concept not only as talk but also an action. The related legal instruments are studied in order to get a full picture of the realm in which transparency conducted through document registers function. The technology is studied to bring fore ways in which the technological solutions are able to govern transparency on their own right. Institutional and expert interviews were conducted and incorporated in the analysis to support the findings from the usability of the registers. The thesis shows how technological construction of the Register of Documents is able to largely limit access to documents precisely due to the way in which it has been constructed. Together with the technological solutions, soft law instruments as well as institutional specific guidelines prove to have enormous influence in practicing transparency through the registers. Main finding suggests that access to documents is not an equal right in practice but high level of expert knowledge is required to gain information. This raises question on the nature of transparency as an ideal principle in a democratic society which would allow to hold the governing entities responsible on their decision and actions. What is needed is renewed attention to the ways in which designing technology creates, in itself, silent rules and shapes the reality of transparency in practice. Tämän tutkielman keskiössä on se, miten Komission läpinäkyvyys materialisoituu digitaalisessa ympäristössä asiakirjarekisterien kautta ja mitä vaikutuksia tällä on asiakirjoihin perustuvalle läpinäkyvyydelle. Euroopan Unionin demokratiavaje on ollut puheenaiheena jo pitkään. Hallinnon läpinäkyvyys on ajateltu olevan yksi keino parantaa demokraattista päätöksen tekoa ja tuoda se lähemmäksi kansalaisia. Läpinäkyvyyttä, kuten monia muitakin hallinnon osa-alueita on digitalisaation myötä lähdetty toteuttamaan myös teknologian avulla. Esimerkkinä tästä on Euroopan Komission Asiakirjarekisteri (RegDoc), joka on tämän tutkielman keskiössä. Teknologian oikeusvaikutukset on oikeustieteen tutkimuksessa aiemmin jo tunnistettu. Komission toimien ja päätösten läpinäkyvyyttä lainopillisesti sääntelee perussopimuksien ja perusoikeuskirjan lisäksi tarkempi asetus asiakirjojen saamisesta yleisön tutustuttavaksi (1049/2001). Nämä luovat pohjan, jonka päälle Komissio on säätänyt päätöksiä, menettelyohjeita, sekä -sääntöjä, niin sanottuja soft law instrumentteja. Vaikkakaan näillä instrumenteilla ei ole yhtäläistä lainpohjaa kuten perussopimuksilla tai asetuksilla, ne vaikuttavat olevan vahvemmassa asemassa asiakirjarekisterien yksityiskohtaisemmassa sääntelyssä. Yksi tutkimuksen löydös osoittaakin, että soft law:sta tuleva sääntely osittain poikkeaa asetuksen vaatimuksista liittyen asiakirjojen metadataan tietokannassa. Tutkielma keskittyy siihen, kuinka rakennettu teknologia itsessään pystyy sääntelemään Komission läpinäkyvyyttä. Komission Asiakirjarekisterin analyysi tuo uutta tietoa ensinnäkin siitä, miten tietyt ratkaisut Asiakirjarekisterin rakennuksessa itsessään vaikeuttaa asiakirjojen saantia. Toiseksi analyysi näyttää miten läpinäkyvyys materialisoituu soft law:n ja teknologian pohjalta. Tutkimuksessa käytetään instituutio- ja asiantuntija haastatteluja, jotka tukevat kirjallisuuteen perustuvaa, lainopillista sekä empiiristä tutkimusta. Tutkielman keskeinen löytö on kuinka Komission läpinäkyvyys ei ole käytännössä saavutettavissa jokaiselle. Erityisesti teknologiset ratkaisut ovat johtaneet vaikeuksiin käyttää asiakirjarekisteriä tai löytää sieltä tietoa. Samalla asiantuntijat, joilla on täsmällistä tietoa haluamistaan asiakirjoista eivät monesti pysty löytämään niitä rekistereistä. Asiakirjoihin pääsy vaikuttaa olevan hyvinkin elitistinen oikeus, jos sitä tarkastellaan rekisterien kautta, ja asiakirjarekisterit vaikuttavat olevat enemmän symbolinen ideaalin läpinäkyvyyden ilmentymä. Kuitenkin asiakirja rekisterien ongelmilla on vaikutuksia muihinkin kansalaisten oikeuksiin, kuten asiakirjapyyntöihin. Näin ollen asiakirja rekisterien käytettävyyteen tulisi kohdistaa enemmän huomiota ja resursseja.

On the basis of technological advances, changing economic conditions and heightened audience expectations for openness and credibility, it has been suggested that transparency should be a new ethical norm for professional online journalism. While theoretical knowledge on this topic is constantly expanding, comprehensive empirical analysis of the practical implementation of transparency measures in news production is still rather scarce, particularly in Finland. To fill this gap in the existing research, this study focuses on transparency in the content of ten leading news websites in Finland. The content is examined with a mixed-methods approach that incorporates both a quantitative and a qualitative analysis. While the quantitative analysis examines a total of 70 front-page articles from each of these news websites with a focus on systematic techniques that reflect transparency, the qualitative analysis scrutinizes these websites in their entirety by concentrating on the larger structures and elements that foster transparency through disclosure of information and supporting audience participation in news production. The results indicate that the level of transparency in the leading online media sources is still relatively low, and that there are no significant differences in transparency measures between the different kinds of mainstream news outlets, although certain techniques seem to be more popular in the tabloid media and others are more widely used by online-only or public service media. As practicing editorial and journalistic transparency does not usually require large financial investments, or involve legal restrictions, the discussion suggests that the main limitations for the utilization of transparency measures are the lack of audience demand on one hand and attitudinal resistance from the media professionals and organisations on the other. This study manages to add new knowledge to prior research on this topic by providing a comprehensive account of both the level and the nature of media transparency. At the same time, it clearly indicates that both transparency and online news publishing are such multi-dimensional and constantly evolving matters that comprehensive measurement of their prevalence would require much further research through a more diverse methodology. In addition to its academic contribution, this study introduces different transparency techniques that would benefit journalism practitioners. It also focuses the attention of consumers on the quality of online journalism and provides them with comparable information on the performance of different news outlets with regards to openness and public participation.

The principle of transparency is a core principle within EU administration being highly intertwined with the right to access to documents. Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents (ATD Regulation) lays down the principles and limits on public access to documents. The European Ombudsman has set itself the particular task of promoting transparency and the right to access to documents. The research focusses on the processing of public access to documents requests by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA). While EMA and Frontex apply so-called queuing mechanisms, ECHA processes access to documents requests in batches when multiple requests or one large request by one applicant are submitted in a short period of time as these multiple submissions could possibly result in adversely affecting the proper functioning of the agencies. The agencies base these means of processing on Article 6(3) ATD enabling the EU institution to confer with the applicant with a view to finding a fair solution. The Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that EU institutions can, based on the principle of proportionality, balance the interests of the applicant to gain access to documents against the workload of the EU institutions caused by the submission of multiple access to documents requests. The Court further stated that Article 6(3) mirrors the possibility of reconciling the interests of the applicant with those of good administration. The European Ombudsman found that applying a queuing mechanism can be considered a suitable means to process multiple requests by one applicant under exceptional circumstances, but academic literature has not dealt with this topic yet. The thesis hence addresses more profoundly the question of the extent to which the queuing mechanisms and the processing in batches as applied by the EU agencies in question are able to reconcile the principle of transparency with the right to good administration and fairness amongst applicants while maintaining the core business and efficiency of the applicable EU agency. Furthermore, the thesis examines if a better alternative to these mechanisms can be found. The study comes to the conclusion that, on the one hand, the queuing mechanisms and the processing in batches have deficits in regard to enhancing transparency and complying with the ATD Regulation. On the other hand, they are able to balance out the different interests between the EU agency and the applicant to some extent. Instead of however finding a better alternative to these mechanisms, a potential solution is, as the study has revealed, to find a better administrative process to reduce the number of ATD requests in order to deprive the queuing mechanisms and the processing in batches of their necessity to better adhere to the principle of transparency and the principle of efficiency. A better administrative process could for instance be the combination of a web form to submit an access to documents request with the obligatory search in a public register of documents to potentially reduce the overall number of requests submitted to the EU institutions every day. Ultimately, it is in the hands of the EU institutions to make EU administration more transparent and to reconcile the different interests at stake.