Common EU data protect strategy mooted within next 18 months

A harmonised reform of data protection is expected by 2016, according to sources from a meeting between the council of national justice ministers, the European Commission, and the European Parliament.

All three bodies are intending that a Data Protection Directive encompassing regulation and law enforcement organisations applying to firms will act as a sole reform package to the present 1995 directive. It will be applicable to all EU counties, as well as to any firm wishing to ply its trade in any of its 28 nations.

Each body has tended to adopt a different strategy when it came to the 1995 regulations, but each also agrees that a common strategy is now required. This will include standard enforcement and fines, less red tape for firms to work in multiple EU countries, and the citizen receiving the same level of protection afforded by the 1995 provisions.

V?ra Jourová, Justice Commissioner for the EU, said:

“External companies and service providers coming to Europe will have to comply with EU rules. If data is sent outside EU, either that country has a similar level of controls or there are bi-lateral agreements, or agreements on an individual basis, or special agreements, such as Safe Harbour.”

Firms operating in the UK need to streamline their own approach to data protection and this includes implementing steps to make their systems as secure as possible. With external threats to security so prevalent in the modern climate, opening cyber security jobs up to trained personnel can only be a smart move.