The Council of Europe contributed to several panels at the 3rd Venice Privacy Symposium — an emerging annual specialised and high-level forum for international cooperation and exchange of best practices.
The Secretary General of the Council of Europe delivered a key-note message which underlined the global importance and added value of Convention 108+ in an increasingly complex digital world.
Hanne Juncher, Director of Security, Integrity and Rule of law, led the panel “Convention 108+, a Wind of Changes” with the participation of Ms Elsa Mein, Ms Drudeisha Madhub, Ms Tamar Kaldani and Mr Alex Joel. The panel underscored the unique opportunity the entry into force of Convention 108+ will represent through its main novelties, notably a new evaluation and follow-up mechanism, as well as the mandatory cooperation of data protection authorities in transborder cases.
She also spoke at the Concluding session of the Privacy and Democracy Track with Ms Josefina Román Vergara, and Ms Deirdre Mulligan. Ms Juncher where she noted guaranteeing human dignity, personal autonomy, and the right of individuals to remain in control of their personal life in the digital age is today one of the main priorities of the Council of Europe and its member states. This was reinforced by the Reykjavik declaration and during the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the Organisation, in line with Article 8 of the ECHR.
The Secretariat also participated in an interactive session on the convergences and synergies between the work of the OECD and the Council of Europe in the area of multilateral privacy and data protection, outlining the specificities of the Council of Europe standards and instruments when it comes to human rights, democracy and the rule of law.
