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Editorial [1999] PLBIRp 48; (1999) 51 Privacy Laws and Business International Report 1

Editorial

More EU Member States are getting close to having the Data Protection Directive implemented into their national laws. The new Austrian data protection law will be in force 1st of January (p. 3-4), and the UK law on 1st March. The Netherlands and Spain have bills in their legislatures, and Denmark and Ireland are likely to present bills to their parliaments early next year. In Germany and France parliamentary work has yet to start.

There are also new developments elsewhere. The Asia Pacific region is increasingly aware of the pressure to adopt data protection laws (p. 18-19). Hungary is in the process of amending its law to better follow the Directive's provisions. Italy, which already has a law in place, has recently adopted minimum security requirements (p.10-12). Interpreting the Directive's security provisions is a difficult task - the British Standard 7799 on information security management provides useful guidance. Insight Consulting, a BS7799 certified company tells us about their experience in the UK (p.8-9). There are also initiatives to adopt the standard internationally. This would allow companies across the world to easily identify the level of security their trading partners have implemented.

Online privacy continues to be an area of concern. Many organisations are developing trust schemes and privacy policies to encourage online shopping and browsing. Read what steps IBM has taken to protect online privacy globally (p.5-7).

Laura Linkomies, Associate Editor

PRIVACY LAWS & BUSINESS