Data Protection
ESOMAR monitors international data protection and privacy policy developments to assess the current and future implications for market, social and opinion researchers.
Some of the most active regions in the world, the EU, US and Canada, are currently addressing how to incorporate many of the latest technological developments into the scope of their legislative framework and policy decisions. As it stands, the outcome of these debates could have a significant impact on the market, social and opinion research sectors and affect the status of certain legitimate techniques employed by researchers:
- United States - The Federal Trade Commission has created a roundtable series entitled, “Exploring Privacy”. Access the latest events organized by the FTC in this series and on related topics here.
- European Union - The latest details on evolving data protection policy in the EU can be found here.
The current Vice-President of the European Commission, Dr. Viviane Reding, is responsible for the Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship portfolio, which includes data protection. You can find Commissioner Reding’s latest political statements here. The most prescriptive recent speeches (three political principles presented on 22/06/2010 and a five-point action plan on 14/07/2010) announce what to expect in the imminent revision of EU rules on data protection and privacy. - Canada - The Privacy Commissioner of Canada is currently hosting a series of consultations with Canadians on consumer privacy, which you can find out about here.
ESOMAR is working diligently with a wide range of actors within the global market research industry to ensure that researchers’ voices will be heard at the right time with accurate messages to the right policymakers. For more details about how we are doing this, please see our Legal Committee page
The European Commission announced its intention in 2009 to review the EU Data Protection Directive, which was originally agreed between the EU Institutions in 1995. This review would assess whether an updated legislative proposal is necessary. Technological developments amongst other issues raised significant discussions about the current Directive’s fitness for purpose. Be sure to read ESOMAR’s latest position papers below.
Joint ESOMAR/efamro Submission in response to the European Commission consultation on the legal framework for the fundamental right to protection of personal data:
Joint ESOMAR/efamro Response - July 2010
Joint ESOMAR/efamro Submission - December 2009
PRESS RELEASE – February 2010:
European market research industry spells out priorities to the European Commission on the legal framework for protecting personal dataEuropean Data Protection
An easy-to-understand summary on how data protection legislation affects social and marketing research
European Data Protection summary
(PDF FILE - 15 KB)