Austria
The rapid development of information technology has exacerbated the need for robust personal data protection, the right to which is safeguarded by both European Union (EU) and Council of Europe (CoE) instruments. Safeguarding this important right entails new and significant challenges as technological advances expand the frontiers of areas such as surveillance, communication interception and data storage.
This handbook outlines the legal standards relating to data protection set by the European Union (EU) and the Council of Europe (CoE). It is designed to assist practitioners not specialised in the field of data protection, including lawyers, judges and other legal practitioners, as well as individuals working for other bodies, such as non-governmental organisations (NGOs), who may be confronted with legal questions relating to data protection.
The handbook serves as a first point of reference on relevant EU law and the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), as well as the CoE Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (Convention 108) and other CoE instruments.