Responsibility, Jurisdiction, and the Future of “Privacy by Design”

Abstract

This chapter focuses on some of the most relevant issues in today’s data protection: responsibility and jurisdiction are examined in the light of the principle of “privacy by design.” On one hand, both from the substantial and procedural points of view, national legal systems determine differently rights and duties in the field of data protection. On the other hand, these divergences can be overcome to some extent, by preventing privacy infringements through the incorporation of data protection safeguards in information and communication technologies. Although it is unlikely that “privacy by design” can offer the one-size-fits-all solution to the problems emerging in the field, it is plausible that the principle will be the key to understand how today’s data protection-issues are being handled. By embedding privacy safeguards in places and spaces, products and processes, such as Information Systems in hospitals, video surveillance networks in public transports, or smart cards for biometric identifiers, the aim should be to strengthen people’s rights and widen the range of their choices. On this basis, we can avert both paternalism modelling individual behavior and chauvinism disdaining different national provisions of current legal systems.