Statistical confidentiality as an element of the protection of the constitutional right to privacy

Abstract

The confidentiality of statistical data, one of the areas of classified data, is a part of the institutional legal framework designed as a coherent safeguard of natural persons’ right to privacy, at the same time recognising the fact that collecting statistical data for public statistics satisfies an important public need. Therefore it is necessary to reach a sensible compromise between justified public interest and private interest. The article analyses selected aspects of statistical confidentiality regarded as a tool for the execution of the constitutional duty to protect the identity of persons participating in statistical surveys. The aim of this paper is to define the extent to which the process of collecting and storing data, provided for by the law on public statistics, constituties a justified and lawful interference with the constitutional rights and freedoms of natural persons. The analysis of the Polish and foreign regulations pertaining to this matter indicates that statistical confidentiality serves as a protective measure for the right to privacy for natural persons, guaranteed by Art. 47 of the Polish Constitution.