ITALY: Ombudsman criticises "anomalous" data retention
01 May 2002
In his annual report the data protection ombudsman, Stefano Rodota, estimated that at least 350 billion pieces of telecommunications traffic data may be held in Italy due to current laws that require the storage of information for five years - which is sometimes extended due to "incorrect interpretation by judges". Rodota condemns this as an anomaly, stressing that in no other country is the legal term for retention longer than a year, although he recognises that traffic data can help in criminal investigations. However, he asks, "can the mere chance of having one more clue to discover a criminal many years later justify the permanent exposure of all citizens to the risk of their data being improperly used? Can the extensive use of technology for data processing be used to transform all citizens into potential suspects?".
Rodota says that after the 11 September attacks privacy has been questioned for its costs, for being an obstacle to the market or to investigations and for limiting the right to information. He reiterates the European data protection authorities' position, stressing that "Measures against terrorism must not compromise the protection of fundamental rights that characterise democratic societies", because privacy may be balanced against other interests "but cannot be cancelled", or democracy itself will be devalued. The report says that the "ever-increasing technological capability to create large databases" and the transnational movement of data risks making important information available to criminals, if it is not matched by strong guarantees and strict security measures.
Rodota called on parliament to take a more active role in data protection issues before society becomes trapped in a "steel cage" with "generalised systems of control", a matter that involves fundamental rights. He says that citizens are increasingly taking notice, "protesting and asking us to intervene when video surveillance systems are put into place". He warns against the risks of the widespread use of new technologies such as iris or face recognition and DNA databases, as substantial number of "false matches" led to face recognition schemes being abandoned in certain locations, and is concerned about mass identification and the possible creation of a "genetic underclass". Very limited use for specific purposes, and without the parallel development of databases is different from "mass identification", which Rodota describes as an "unprecedented democratic issue".
Privacy ombudsman Rodota's annual report (2001), is available on
http://www.garanteprivacy.it