Browsing by Author "Byström, Nomi"

The thesis calls for a Protocol on data protection to strengthen the European Convention on Human Rights. It claims that reliance on Article 8 and its limb of right of respect for private life, as interpreted by the Court, fails to sufficiently protect the data subject and his core rights. Lack of explicit law has led to a situation of fundamental underlying inconsistency where judgments at times guarantee data protection, yet at other times fail to do so. The examination of the need for the Protocol is approached from two angles: one external, the other internal. Chapter 2 discusses how the environment has undergone an information revolution. In consequence, in the digital society personal data has acquired an entirely new value, especially political and economic, rendering every person vulnerable in an unprecedented manner. The second cause is found within the Convention itself, the right of respect for private life of Article 8, and the way that the Court has interpreted the provision in cases on information privacy. Chapter 3 analyzes how dynamic/evolutive interpretation can undermine legal clarity, certainty, equality and foreseeability for the data subject. Chapter 4 examines case studies where core rights of the data subject: access to own data; right to rectification; right to erasure and consent have failed to have been guaranteed or even acknowledged by the Court. The impact of the margin of appreciation is deemed significant in the denial of data protection. The final chapter discusses why a Protocol is the best means to strengthen the Convention. Moreover, due to the ratification process, early rather than late establishment is recommended.