Source: European Commission Press Releases

Transparency and data protection are both essential elements of democratic life in the European Union, where citizens have a right of access to documents of European institutions and enjoy protection of their personal data. However, a conflict between these two rights can sometimes arise, namely when private data is part of a public document. Released on 12 July 2005, the 'Public access to documents and data protection' paper provides guidelines on how to proceed in such a situation.

According to the EDPS, when dealing with public access to documents containing personal data, it is imperative that the responsible officials make a concrete and individual examination of the specific document. Firstly, disclosure can only be refused if the privacy of an individual is at stake. Secondly, the negative effect of disclosure of someone's personal data must be substantial and thirdly it has to be examined if data protection legislation allows disclosure.

For further reading please click here.