Data & It Law Week, vol. 36: Changing the name and gender, Google Spain Case and Big Data report

Changing the name and gender

In the area of data protection, the debate is focused on the use of data for new purposes or its legality. However, not many authors deal with the situation of a change of some personal data, such as name or gender.

Steve Wood had addressed this issue and described some data protection implications of such a change. Data controller should ensure that data are accurate and kept up to date. The procedure of changing these details must be secure and confidential. Finally, the organisations should review their policies and procedures to ensure the execution of these rights.

Google Spain Case in scholar writing

In 2014, it certainly is the CJEU´s Google Spain Case, which is the most inspiring case for scholars. Another scholar to publish such an article was Stefan Kulk, from Utrecht University.

In his article, he argues that: „(T)he CJEU did not give enough attention to the right to freedom of expression. By seeing a search engine operator as a controller regarding the processing of personal data on third party web pages, the CJEU assigns the operator the delicate task of balancing the fundamental rights at stake. However, such an operator may not be the most appropriate party to balance the rights of all involved parties, in particular in cases where such a balance is hard to strike.”

Comprehensive report on Big Data legal implications

The International Working Group on Data protection in Telecommunications had published a report about the use of Big Data analysis. It describes the majority of problems and gives recommendations on how to tackle them. It discusses the issues of consent, robust anonymisation, transparency and control of the data collection, privacy by design or awareness.

The report is suitable for anyone, who is trying to find arguments for both sides.