Personal data violation could attract global punishment under law change

Changes to European regulations on the protection of personal data will have a profound impact on the way companies must tackle this issue in the future, according to DLA Piper specialists.

New European legislation in this area will be officially published at the beginning of 2013. After a two-year transition period, the rules are expected to come into force at the beginning of 2015.

Sanctions introduced for violations in this domain could be of between 0.5 and 2 percent of the global turnover of the respective operator, depending on the severity of the crime. This means that if an entity in Romania breaks the law, it could lead to a penalty being applied to the global turnover of the group it belongs to.

The main violations can be found in electronic commerce and social media.

The new European data protection legislation will replace the existing Directive 95/46/EC and will apply directly as such in all member states, without being adapted to the national legislation of each one.

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“Given the unprecedented development of the internet and the more frequent violations of late, it was necessary to sharpen the legislation and penalties. The current European legislation in this domain dates from 1995, when less than 1 percent of Europeans used the internet. Today, in 13 out of 27 EU member states, the internet penetration rate exceeds 70 percent. An example is the leaking of data of approximately 75 million users that multimedia giant Sony was confronted with in April last year, following a cybernetic attack on the PlayStation network,” said Cosmina Simion, head of intellectual property  media and technology at DLA Piper Romania.  The new European regulation introduces special stipulations for minors. Processing the personal data of children under 13 will only be possible with the agreement of the parents.  All the processing operations fall under the supervision of one single authority, based in the state where the operator is headquartered. This makes it possible for an authority from another country to impose sanctions on an entity operating in Romania, which is affiliated to the mother company based in the respective country.  Also, entities in the private sector with more than 250 employees will be compelled to appoint a data privacy officer who will be in charge of processing personal data.

Otilia Haraga