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16 Stan. J. Int'l L. 87 (1980)
Data Law in Europe

handle is hein.journals/stanit16 and id is 91 raw text is: Data Law in Europe FRITS W. HONDIUS* Modem technology has made it possible for public and private organizations around the world to process and store vast quantities of information about people. This technological advance, however, carries with it the potential for abuse. Europe was the frst area to recognize the problem, and in the last decade European countries have laid the foundation for the protection of thinvidual rights against com- puter-generated abuse. The basic principles of data protection law in Europe have developedfrom the first Council of Europe resolutions, through the enactment of national data protection legislation and constitutional provisions in several European nations, to the current Council of Europe draft Convention for the international regulation of data processing of personal information. Data protection has gained national and international recognition in Europe as afundamental human right. While there is essential harmony among the various laws in force, there remain problems and uncertainties in data protection law in Europe and the rest of the world There is a remarkable parallel between the data processing and legal fields. Both deal with the application of predetermined rules and procedures to varying constellations of facts and conditions. Both operate in the context of systems, ze., groups of related and interacting subjects. The problems encountered in one field can serve to illustrate problem-solving techniques in the other. For ex- ample, George Boole, the nineteenth century mathematician whose logical calculus became the basis for electronic computing, used legal problems posed by Jewish dietary law to demonstrate his theory.' Despite this affinity between computers and the law, encounters between the two remained of marginal significance until not long ago. The relationship has begun to develop in recent years, however, generally following two basic lines: computers as aids to the law, and computers as subjects of legal regulation. The former category is known as legal informatics (informatiquejuridique) or legal data processing in Europe. The second category, not yet widely recog- nized as a distinct legal discipline, lacks a single commonly accepted name. For the sake of convenience, I refer to it as computer law. This article discusses the emergence of this second category, particu- larly in the area of data protection law. * Dr. Frits W. Hondius is Head of Division II (Droit Public) for the Directorate of Legal Affairs in the Secretariat General of the Council of Europe. Dr. Hondius served as a representative of the Secretariat in the Committee of Experts on Data Protection that re- viewed the Draft Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data promulgated by the Council of Europe. I G. BOOLE, AN INVESTIGATION OF THE LAWS OF THOUGHT 84-88 (1854).

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