Current legislation is constantly struggling to find the right balance between privacy rights for subjects and the data controllers who utilize vast amounts of data.

This was the central theme of a half day seminar organised by the Malta IT Law Association (www.mitla.org.mt) to discuss issues surrounding current data protection legislation. The seminar provided an update on the latest legislative proposals of the new EU General Data Protection Regulation, and how this aims to bring current data protection legislation in line with recent technological developments. The panellists also analysed the impact that the proposed Regulation on current data protection practices with special reference to cloud computing. 

Hosted at SmartCity Malta, the event was envisaged to attract about 60 guests but was attended by over 120 professionals. It was sponsored by Microsoft Malta, a main driver of cloud technology in Malta.

Speakers included Helena  Dalli, Minister for Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties, Dr Bruno Gencarelli, Head of the Data Protection Unit, European Commission, DG Justice, Dr Remco Hendrikse, Commercial Attorney at Microsoft CEE, Prof. Joseph Cannataci, Head, Department of Information Policy & Governance, University of Malta and Saviour Cachia, Malta's Information and Data Protection Commissioner.

Minister Helena Dalli explained that Malta attaches great importance to data protection and places great responsibility on public service to lead by example. "Privacy is a fundamental human right and it has to be safeguarded both at local and European levels. Private and public organizations must change their culture and review procedures and carry out internal restructuring in relation to the regulation".

Dr Bruno Gencarelli said that businesses processing data will be governed by one single law with one supervisory authority through the upcoming EU regulation One continent, one law, one regulation. In 1995, only 1% of the population used the internet. Today, the digital world has changed, bringing enormous potential for growth. Personal data is the currency of the digital economy and as such needs stability and trust. Surveys show that the main concern of EU citizens when using an online service is data privacy and security. Users don't feel sufficiently empowered to make informed judgements in this regard. This should be the main concern of policy makers and operators.

Dr Remco Hendrikse, Commercial Attorney at Microsoft explained how in cloud computing, trust plays a central role. "When customers consider moving to the cloud they are concerned about losing a degree of control of their data, where not they entrust that data with a different entity. Businesses for example, will no longer host their data on their own servers, but through cloud computing would have their data stored elsewhere. Moving data to a cloud provider does not mean customers lose control and in our contracts we make clear that the data still belongs to the client. Microsoft's concern as a cloud provider will always be that of protecting the client's data."

"The high attendance showed us that there is clearly a niche for professionals to discuss the developments of IT law and subsequently influence the formulation of policy. This niche is now being led by MITLA and the very positive attendance at our recent half day seminar on data protection confirms the need for more events that provide the right forum for discussion," said Dr Antonio Ghio and Dr Gege Gatt, respective President and Vice-President of MITLA following the event.

This half day seminar was a great success not only in terms of attendance but also in terms of academic content. MITLA will be issuing an e-book containing data from the event.

Saviour Cachia, Malta's Information and Data Protection Commissioner commented that in all his years in public service he never addressed a local event which brought together so many professionals in the field of Data Protection.

"For us, this confirms the need for such events and in fact, MITLA will now be seeking new opportunities to deliver online seminars , publications and high-level networking sessions that lead to more engagement with its members," concluded Dr Ghio and Dr Gatt.

www.mitla.org.mt