Privacy laws for internet face tightening

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http://cphpost.dk/news/national/88-national/46497-privacy-laws-for-internet-face-tightening.html

Politicians want to protect violations of individuals’ confidentiality on the internet but the task may be impossible

Both experts and politicians are prepared to draft a law proposal that would tighten rules regarding the publication of personal and confidential information on the internet, reports Berlingske Tidende newspaper.

Two current cases in the media have put the issue under the spotlight as needing tighter controls. One case deals with confidential bank information having been leaked onto the internet, while the other is about a well-known jet-setter who has been implicated in a drug ring.

The jet-set woman was able to secure a court order temporarily banning her name from being used in the media, but several news agencies had already published her name when the incident was first reported.

Yet despite the court order, the woman’s name can still be found on the internet in connection with the case through blogs and the previous news articles.

As the current laws stand, residents are supposedly protected from ‘sensitive’ personal information being released in the media. But legal experts are concerned that those falsely accused of crimes will suffer backlash as long as personal information is available on the internet, which is more or less without boundaries.

‘The internet contributes to strengthening the publication of information, and on the one hand that’s a good thing,’ said Oluf Jørgensen, legal expert at the Danish School of Media and Journalism.

‘But the negative side is that information that needs to be protected and that can be hateful or can damage someone’s private life gets spread. And the reality is that it’s impossible to control,’ said Jørgensen.

That reality can undermine any real effectiveness of a new law, particularly when the internet is a global, and not merely Danish, phenomenon, according to Olse Espersen, head of rights organisation Retssikkerhedsfonden.

‘If the law ends up being full of holes so that only the newspapers will be prevented from using a person’s name, and the name can be found all over websites such as Facebook, then we have to question the fairness of that law.'

[real6]

http://politiken.dk/newsinenglish/article763604.ece

Experts and politicians want to introduce legislation to curb abuse and protect privacy on the Internet.
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Experts say that the law hasn?t kept up with the technological advances of the Internet. - Foto: Finn Frandsen
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Danish politicians and experts are calling for the cornerstone of the Danish legal system – the Administration of Justice Act – to be overhauled to take modern technology – and particularly the Internet -into account.

A couple of recent cases have indicated that the law no longer protects individuals from being named and shamed – illegally or even unjustly. The examples in question involved the leaking of confidential banking information and the naming of a Danish jet-set woman accused of selling cocaine. Although the judge had banned the woman’s name from being reported, it continues to figure on blogs, debate fora and cached Internet pages.

Other problems of Internet use include defamatory or libellous statements that can continue to be available on the Internet despite court rulings, Berlingske Tidende says.

Outdated
“There is every reason to consider whether the Administration of Justice Law in its current form can safeguard the considerations and conditions that should be guaranteed by the law and bans on naming people. I don’t think it can,” says Legal Rights Foundation Chairman Ole Espersen who adds that Parliament should appoint a panel of experts to look into the issue.

Media Legal Expert Oluf Jørgensen of the Danish Journalism University and Chief Legal Officer of the CEPOS think-tank Jacob Mchangama agree.

“The cases show that legislation has not kept up with the technological advances. You can get round the rules,” Mchangama says.

A particular problem is that it can be difficult to erase old information from the Internet and be difficult to clean up and find those responsible.

Overhaul
“We live in a new reality with the Internet, blogs and the suchlike. These are overtaking known rules and norms,” says Parliamentary Justice Committee Chairman Peter Skaarup of the Danish People’s Party.

“So there may be good reason to give the rules surrounding reporting restrictions an overhaul, and to see whether the size of current fines provide a sufficient deterrent,” Skaarup adds.

Berlingske Tidende writes that the Conservative Justice Spokesman Tom Behnke agrees, while it has not been possible to get a comment from Justice Minister Brian Mikkelsen.