Legal aspects of Internet Protocol version 6
Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) has been developed in response to a series of perceived problems, which primarily involve exhaustion of the current Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4). However, a number of changes were also made in data formats and the interpretation of data fields to make the network operate better in the long term. The design process has essentially been completed and a protocol specified after considerable implementation experience, although refinement work continues. As a consequence of the transition from IPv4 to IPv6, numerous projects are dedicated to the study of its development and implementation from a purely technical perspective. The European project Euro6IX sought to analyse the possible implications that the adoption of IPv6 might have on the right to privacy and data protection. Whilst the transition to IPv6 is both necessary and inevitable, concerns about the design of one type of IPv6 address using unique identifiers have already arisen to privacy issues. An IPv6 address could be considered as personal data, because it contains a unique identifier linked directly to the terminal interface using the specific IP address and to its user. In this respect, the current European legislation on data protection was analysed with the purpose of estimating whether it contemplates and regulates possible problems from the IPv6 implementation. This analysis was further motivated by the fact that current data protection legislation is currently being consolidated and is becoming known by companies, organisations and citizens acquiring knowledge of their rights and obligations. European Directives, agreements and conventions on data protection that might be initially implemented to IPv6 were analysed in terms of their adequacy to detect new aspects of the IPv6 adoption. In addition, it was examined whether information on IP addresses could be processed in conformity with the current legislation and under the existing IPv6 specification. Finally, the possibility of adopting technical solutions that have been developed to preserve the privacy of this Protocol's users was considered.
