The Adequacy Standard under Directive 95/46/EC: Does U.S. Data Protection Meet This Standard
![handle is hein.journals/frdint21 and id is 952 raw text is: COMMENTS
THE ADEQUACY STANDARD UNDER DIRECTIVE 95/46/
EC: DOES U.S. DATA PROTECTION MEET
THIS STANDARD?
Patrick j Murray*
INTRODUCTION
Recent developments in information technology,1 particu-
larly in computers and networks,2 threaten informational pri-
vacy.3 These technologies permit data controllers4 (control-
* J.D. Candidate, May 1999, Fordham University School of Law.
1. See COLIN J. BENNETT, REGULATING PRIVACY 16 (1992) (defining informational
technology as hardware and software associated with all features of automatic digital
data processing and communication). Information technology includes the people
using the technology, their equipment, and the techniques that they use. Id.
2. See Susan H. Borgos, Computer Networks for Lawyers, 24 COLO. LAw. 1557, 1557-58
(1995) (discussing types of networks and practical network components); Henry H. Per-
ritt, Jr., What Lawyers Need to Know About the Internet: Basic Technological Terms and Con-
cepts, 443 PRACTICE L. INST.: PATENTS, COPYRIGHTS, TRADEMARKS, AND LITERARY PROPERTY
COURSE HANDBOOK SERIES 23, 26-29 (June 5, 1996) (describing structural features of
networks). A network is a group of computers connected together so that the people
using them can communicate with one another, transfer files, and share resources.
Borgos, supra, at 1557. Networks may be local area networks or wide area networks.
Perritt, supra, at 26-27. While local area networks serve a limited number of computers
in reasonable proximity to each other, wide area networks often span larger areas. Id.;
see also Joel R. Reidenberg & Francoise Gamet-Pol, The Fundamental Role of Privacy and
Confidence in the Network, 30 WAKE FOREST L. REv. 105, 111-12 (1995) (discussing how
networks that replaced mainframe computers decentralized information processing
and facilitated surveillance).
3. See ANN CAVOUKIAN & DON TAPs'COTr, WHO KNows: SAFEGUARDING YOUR PRI-
VACY IN A NETWORKED WORLD 49 (1997) (explaining that powerful computers and high-
speed networks make monitoring people's activities easy); see BENNETT, supra note 1, at
22-37 (discussing three aspects of informational technology problem). Informational
privacy is an individual's claim to control the terms under which personal information
is acquired, disclosed, and used. NATIONAL TELECOMM. AND INFO. ADMIN., U.S. DEP'T OF
COMMERCE, PRIVACY AND THE NII: SAFEGUARDING TELECOMMUNICATIONS-RELATED PER-
SONAL INFORMATION (1995) [hereinafter NTIA REPORT]; see PRISCILLA M. REGAN, LEGIS-
LATING PRIVACY 5 (1995) (defining informational privacy as involving questions about
the use of personal information collected by organizations such as credit card compa-
nies, banks, the federal government, educational institutions, and video stores.).
Europeans frequently refer to informational privacy as data protection. See BENNETT,
supra note 1, at 12-14 (mentioning data protection as more accurate term for policies
designed to regulate collection, storage, use, and transfer of personal information).
4. Council Directive No. 95/46/EC of 24 October 1995 on the Protection of Indi-](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/frdint21&div=62&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Adequacy Standard under Directive 95/46/EC: Does U.S. Data Protection Meet This Standard
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