Data protection and data processing facilities for the Council of Europe

Recommendation 866 (1979)

Author(s):

Parliamentary Assembly

Origin

See Doc. 4312, report of the Committee on Science and Technology. Text adopted by the Standing Committee, on behalf of the Assembly, on 28 June 1979.

Thesaurus

The Assembly,

1. Taking into account the Report and Final Statement of the Round Table on the use of Data Processing for Parliamentary Work held in Strasbourg on 18-19 May 1978 pursuant to Resolutions 576 (1974) and 634 (1976) ;

2. Welcoming the general endorsement given to the Final Statement of the Round Table by the Conference of Presidents of European Parliamentary Assemblies at its meeting in The Hague on 22- 24 June 1978 ;

3. Sharing the views of the Round Table that :

a the growing use of computers must be made subject to democratic control through legislation to protect personal privacy ;

b there is a pressing need, due to the ever-increasing flow of data across frontiers, for international agreement on legislation to protect personal privacy ;

c the introduction of data-processing facilities is indispensable to the proper functioning of the Council of Europe in making the texts of its conventions, agreements, parliamentary and ministerial recommendations and resolutions, etc., available to national parliaments and public administrations ;

4. Noting with satisfaction the work of the Council of Europe's committee of experts on data protection, in framing regulations for data protection in specific sectors (population records, records for statistical and research purposes, police and justice information systems, etc.),

5. Recommends that the Committee of Ministers :

5.1 complete work on the draft convention on data protection as soon as possible, and render it open to accession by non-European states ;

5.2 invite governments of member states which have not yet done so to introduce legislation on data protection based on the principles already worked out in the Council of Europe ;

5.3 instruct the Secretary General to arrange for data-processing facilities to be made available on a trial basis in the Council of Europe, and to submit proposals to this effect in the 1980 budget.