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Recommendation 1984 (2011) Final version
The protection of privacy and personal data on the Internet and online media
1. Referring to its Resolution 1843 (2011) on
the protection of privacy and personal data on the Internet and
online media, the Parliamentary Assembly welcomes and supports Resolution
No. 3 on data protection and privacy in the 3rd millennium adopted
by the 30th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers of Justice (Istanbul,
24-26 November 2010) and calls for a plan of action for the promotion
of common legal standards to guarantee the protection of privacy
and personal data on networks and services based on information
and communications technologies (ICTs) throughout Europe and beyond,
in the framework of the Convention for the Protection of Individuals
with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (ETS No. 108,
hereafter “Convention No. 108”).
2. The Assembly recommends that the Committee of Ministers:
2.1. actively seek the signature
and ratification of Convention No. 108 and its Additional Protocol regarding
supervisory authorities and transborder data flows (ETS No. 181)
by the European Union and those member states which have not yet
done so, and call on all Parties to Convention No. 108, which have
not yet done so, to accept the amendments enabling the European
Union to accede to this convention;
2.2. encourage and support, through Council of Europe member
states’ permanent representations to the United Nations, the signature
and ratification of Convention No. 108 by non-member states, in particular
those states which are observers to the Council of Europe or are
parties to enlarged partial agreements or signatories to other Council
of Europe conventions;
2.3. provide adequate budgetary resources within the secretariat
of the Council of Europe for the further legal development of Convention
No. 108 in line with Resolution No. 3 of the 30th Council of Europe
Conference of Ministers of Justice, and call on member and observer
states, as well as the European Union, to provide voluntary additional
funding for such work;
2.4. fully support, for that purpose, the work undertaken by
the Consultative Committee of Convention No. 108, to reinforce the
protection of all people regarding the use and storage of personal
data, to ensure identical protection for everyone, regardless of
the place of storage or where those responsible for the storage
are located, and to avoid the risk of dumping in terms of protection;
2.5. invite the Parties to Convention No. 108 to:
2.5.1. take
account of Assembly Resolution 1843 (2011) when revising the convention;
2.5.2. not lower the established protection of privacy and personal
data;
2.5.3. establish a mechanism for monitoring compliance of parties
with their obligations under this convention;
2.5.4. bear in mind Assembly Resolution 1744 (2010) on extra-institutional
actors in the democratic system when consulting private stakeholders;
2.6. promote the signature and ratification of the Convention
on Cybercrime (ETS No. 185) by all member states as well as by non-member
states;
2.7. promote the signature and ratification of the Council
of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual
Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (CETS No. 201) by all member states
as well as by non-member states;
2.8. ask its relevant instances dealing with bioethics to propose
standards for the ICT-based processing of medical and health data
in accordance with the Convention on Human Rights and Biomedicine
(ETS No. 164) and its additional protocols;
2.9. ask the Secretary General of the Council of Europe to
ensure, through the adoption of specific internal rules and regulations,
the protection of privacy and personal data of members of Council
of Europe bodies as well as Council of Europe staff, and to reinforce
the position of the Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Data Protection;
2.10. bring this recommendation and Resolution 1843 (2011) to
the attention of the competent ministries and data protection authorities
in member states.