At the Crossroads of Legal and Technical Translation: The Case of Personal Data

Abstract

In this paper, the researcher will examine the specific features of Decisions and Directives concerning personal data and their translation into Greek and from Greek. Privacy is protected in the European Union and in the national legislation of each member state. Since the texts in each source language depict not only issues concerning personal data but also national legislation and socio-political issues, the translator is called to share successful notions linked directly to privacy issues and information technology but also to transfer the social and economic conditions. Through this study, the specific traits of personal data texts will become evident. Through specific examples, we examine the special translation issues of these texts mainly through the coexistence of information technology, and scientific, and legal terms. We concentrate on institutions, administrative procedures, and legal notions that must be understood and rendered in the translation to the target language. Despite several similarities in the legal framework, legal texts concerning personal data depict social structures. Data protection is a relatively new sector encompassing various approaches, and special attention should be paid in order to render specific shades of meaning.