Many times people are worried about the protection of their personal data as the technological and societal development are experiencing changes all the time. So, to achieve a state of tranquility a regulatory framework should meet both personal data and fundamental rights.

However, for medical and scientific research it is very important to have also some accesible data so then they can work on their searches and obtain results to deal with. Therefore, what could happen if all data is completely private?

In 2012, the European Commission set two propositions of a new regulation framework. What they wanted to do was to try to obtain a balance on the security of personal data but at the same time to let some of this data to medical and scientific research and other investigation authorities. Nevertheless, the result wasn’t the desirable one. High standards of protection made scientific progress incompatible.

To solve this, on June 15th the Council reached a general approach where LERU (League of European Research Universities), welcomes the efforts done to find again the equilibrium on the General Data Protection regulation. But, at the same time LERU is worried whether risks would lead to a confusing patchwork of national legislations. Although the EU legislates on these safeguards, researchers will have to deal with up to 28 different regulatory frameworks when processing personal data.

 

Patricia Fernández Ruiz.