Privacy and the European Union: An examination of the provenance and content of the forthcoming data protection directive and its likely impact on UK data protection law

The paper traces, in outline, the development of a framework of human rights, with particular reference to the right of privacy, in the original European Economic Community through to the present position in the European Union, following the Maastricht Treaty. The paper then examines the possible models of privacy legislation and the role of any counterveiling policies which have influenced both the Community and Union, as well as those operating within the UK. Also identified is the increasing computer awareness of the Community. The general policy aims of the Directive are contrasted with the stated aims of the Data Protection Act 1984. This comparison is intended to identify the likely impact of the European model, as expressed in the Directive, on the UK. The paper then goes on to examine the directive in detail with two objectives. The first is to determine whether the Directive lives up to its own aims, as set out in the Recitals, and secondly how specific provisions of the Directive compare with equivalent provisions under the Data Protection Act 1984. Where no such equivalent exists the paper suggests what changes might result following the enactment of the Directive. Finally the paper asks whether the Directive will give UK citizens greater rights of privacy than they currently enjoy or whether it will make little difference.