Browsing by Author "Gockel, Janette"

This thesis sought to remedy the lack of information about the main differences and similarities between the European Union’s (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) privacy and data protection policies. To do so, it outlined both organizations’ publicly available privacy and data protection policies, as well as defined the big picture of the global legal instruments related to the topic. To understand what the impact of these policies to the members of both was, a comparison was made between Finland and Germany. The chosen methodology was comparative law. The key results indicated that main emphasis of the EU is on human rights protection. This is proven by the GDPR, which recognizes privacy as a fundamental human right. The need to safeguard the privacy of users is prioritized throughout the EU’s jurisdiction by aiming to protect data. There is a strong contrast compared to NATO, which puts the strategic interests of their allies first. NATO aims to ensure that it can leverage data as a strategic resource. Members of both must find balance between these different interests, while being part of the international community. In principle, where the EU and international agreements handle civilian matters in privacy and data protection, there NATO covers military matters. However, the rising geopolitical tensions has led to a situation where the role of the EU might be changing. The political decisions the EU is now taking will shape the future of the EU-NATO cooperation as well as privacy and data protection policies, to be possibly used in a more strategic way.