Discuss the importance of personal data protection in the context of human rights. (UPSC CSE Mains 2019 - Political Science and International Relations, Paper 2).
- The right to privacy is a enshrined in article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), article 17 in the legally binding International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and in article 16 of the Convention of the Rights of the Child (CRC). Many national constitutions and human rights documents mention the right to privacy.
- When we talk about personal data, we refer to that data that is intrinsically linked to each of us: name, ID, blood type, physical characteristics, or even biometric information. In the context of the internet, we can also include in this concept the data we generate every day – our likes in social media, posts, purchase preferences, browser history, among other things – that define us as network users, in any platform whatsoever. In the legal sense, personal data is information that identifies or can be used to identify an individual as defined in the General Personal Data Protection Act (LGPD).
- Protection of personal data, which may become a constitutionally guaranteed right, to another extent, is broader, involving the protection of intimacy, privacy and the guarantee that the personal data we generate will be treated in accordance with the proper protective legislation.
- The protection of personal data is taken today as a norm, in either the broad and the strict senses of the word – as it is now enshrined in legislation not only in Brazil, but also in Europe and several other countries around the world. It is therefore necessary to question what changes when we treat such protection as a fundamental right.
- Data protection laws are underpinned by a respect for fundamental human rights. That’s because the storage and use of personal information should be at the service of people. To ensure this happens, data protection laws should take into account people’s right to a private life, which is protected by Article 8 of the Human Rights Convention.
- The protection of personal data, as we can see, is fundamental for maintaining citizenship in a democratic regime. Encryption, in turn, is one of several techniques by which citizens can be guaranteed this right.
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