EU member states, all 28 of them, made a big move in deciding to revamp the European data protection law, which was first brought up 3 years ago, in 2012. Each of the states' ministers has come to an agreement over how the legislation should be approached. This sets next week's session to focus mainly on revamping the law; taking out the outdated parts of it and placing new amendments to cater to what these modern times need. With this, the European Parliament has manifested its endorsement of the bill.
The proposed reforms for the data protection law will be much tougher in terms of enforcing the right to be forgotten and lay out a uniform set of regulations for data protection throughout Europe. The uniform set of regulations aim to bring ease for businesses within the EU and help them save more than $3.6 billion, which is currently wasted due to various versions implemented by the member states. "Today we have moved a great step closer to modernised and harmonised data protection framework for the European Union. I am very content that after more than 3 years of negotiations we have finally found a compromise on the text," said by Dzintars Rasnačs, Latvia's minister for justice during a press conference last June 15.
In the same press conference, Dzintars Rasnačs also put emphasis on the legislation for the right to be forgotten and said, "The new data protection regulation, adapted to the needs of the digital age, will strengthen individual rights of our citizens and ensure a high standard of protection." The European data protection rules were passed in 1995 and have remained unchallenged until 2012.
The new legislation emphasizes on the right of an individual to insist that his or her history be removed from accessibility via a search engine. In an article by Alan Martin, posted on We Live Security, he reported that Google has received 255,143 requests pertaining the "right to be forgotten" but the company has denied 58.7 percent; citing the public's right to information as the basis for the rejections. "An appropriate update must put control of personal data back in the hands of European consumers," said the director general of the European Consumer Organization, Monique Goyens, in an interview with the Guardian.
