Corien Prins

Sjaak Nouwt

Berend R. de Vries

In 1967, Justice John Marshall Harlan introduced the litmus test of ‘a reasonable expectation of privacy’ in his concurring opinion in the US Supreme Court case of Katz v. United States. Privacy, regulations to protect privacy, and data protection have been legal and social issues in many Western countries for a number of decades. However, recent measures to combat terrorism, to fight crime, and to increase security, together with the growing social acceptance of privacy-invasive technologies can be considered a serious threat to the fundamental right to privacy. What is the purport of ‘reasonable expectations of privacy’? Reasonable expectations of privacy and the reality of data protection is the title of a research project being carried out by TILT, the Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society at Tilburg University, The Netherlands. The project is aimed at developing an international research network of privacy experts (professionals, academics, policymakers) and to carry out research on the practice, meaning, and legal performance of privacy and data protection in an international perspective. Part of the research project was to analyse the concept of privacy and the reality of data protection in case law, with video surveillance and workplace privacy as two focal points. The eleven country reports regarding case law on video surveillance and workplace privacy are the core of the present book. The conclusions drawn by the editors are intended to trigger and stimulate an international debate on the use and possible drawbacks of the ‘reasonable expectations of privacy’ concept. The editors are all affiliated to TILT – Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society, Tilburg University, The Netherlands. This is Volume 7 in the Information Technology and Law (IT&Law) Series

Eleven Country Reports on Camera Surveillance and Workplace Privacy

Reasonable Expectations of Privacy?

Serge Gutwirth

Paul de Hert

Yves Poullet

Cécile de Terwangne

data. Furthermore, the European Union established clear basic principles for the collection, storage and use of personal data by governments, businesses and other organizations or individuals in Directive 95/46/EC and Directive 2002/58/EC on Privacy and Electronic communications. Nonetheless, the twenty-?rst century citizen – utilizing the full potential of what ICT-technology has to offer – seems to develop a digital persona that becomes increasingly part of his individual social identity. From this perspective, control over personal information is control over an aspect of the identity one projects in the world. The right to privacy is the freedom from unreasonable constraints on one’s own identity. Transactiondata–bothtraf?candlocationdata–deserveourparticularattention. As we make phone calls, send e-mails or SMS messages, data trails are generated within public networks that we use for these communications. While traf?c data are necessary for the provision of communication services, they are also very sensitive data. They can give a complete picture of a person’s contacts, habits, interests, act- ities and whereabouts. Location data, especially if very precise, can be used for the provision of services such as route guidance, location of stolen or missing property, tourist information, etc. In case of emergency, they can be helpful in dispatching assistance and rescue teams to the location of a person in distress. However, p- cessing location data in mobile communication networks also creates the possibility of permanent surveillance.

Reinventing Data Protection?

Sjaak Nouwt

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