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Commission to promote development of Privacy Enhancing Technologies

Identifying the benefits of Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) and promoting their development is the goal of a new Communication adopted by the European Commission on 2 May. The right to the protection of personal data is enshrined in Article 8 of the Charter of Fundament...

Identifying the benefits of Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) and promoting their development is the goal of a new Communication adopted by the European Commission on 2 May. The right to the protection of personal data is enshrined in Article 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and the Data Protection and ePrivacy Directives set out in detail the obligations of the data controller as well as what happens if a data subject's rights are breached. While information and communication technologies (ICT) have brought numerous benefits to consumers, they also bring about risks such as identity theft, discriminatory profiling and deceit. 'On line services provide a lot of benefits and convenience to citizens and huge competitive advantages to European businesses,' commented Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media. 'Yet for such services to enjoy large scale growth and so boost Europe's economy, people must have sufficient confidence that their personal privacy and legitimate business interests are being properly safeguarded.' PETs can help ensure that information and communication systems comply with the relevant data protection laws, while also making breaches of these laws more difficult from a technical point of view. For example, encryption tools can prevent hackers from accessing information transmitted over the Internet, and also support the data controller in taking measures to protect personal data from unlawful processing. Cookie-cutters can block cookies placed on a computer to make it perform certain instructions without the user's knowledge. Data programmes can also be set up to anonymise data once identification of the data subjects is no longer necessary for the purposes for which the data were originally collected. The new Communication highlights the need to identify the technological requirements of PETs and fund more research into them. Under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), the EU spent over €18 million on PET research, a figure which is expected to increase significantly in the coming years. The Commission will also promote the development of these technologies through large-scale pilot demonstrations. Furthermore, the Commission plans to promote PET use by industry and public authorities; ensure that the appropriate standards are in place for PETs and raise consumers' awareness of PETs, in particular through an EU-wide system of privacy seals which would help consumers identify products or services which incorporate the PETs needed to protect their data.