Employees' Protection

This chapter describes the conflict between employers' legitimate rights and employees' right to privacy and data protection as a result of the shift in workplace surveillance from a non-digital to a technologically advanced one. Section 1 describes the transition from non-digital workplace surveillance to an Internet-centred one, where “smart” devices are in a dominant position. Section 2 focuses on the legal framework (supranational and national legislation and case law) of workplace surveillance. In section 3, one case study regarding wearable technology and the law is carried out to prove that national and European legislation are not adequate to deal with all issues and ambiguities arising from the use of novel surveillance technology at work. The chapter concludes by noting that the adoption of sector specific legislation for employees' protection is necessary, but it would be incomplete without a general framework adopting modern instruments of data protection.

This chapter describes the conflict between employers' legitimate rights and employees' right to privacy and data protection as a result of the shift in workplace surveillance from a non-digital to a technologically advanced one. Section 1 describes the transition from non-digital workplace surveillance to an Internet-centred one, where “smart” devices are in a dominant position. Section 2 focuses on the legal framework (supranational and national legislation and case law) of workplace surveillance. In section 3, one case study regarding wearable technology and the law is carried out to prove that national and European legislation are not adequate to deal with all issues and ambiguities arising from the use of novel surveillance technology at work. The chapter concludes by noting that the adoption of sector specific legislation for employees' protection is necessary, but it would be incomplete without a general framework adopting modern instruments of data protection.

In year 1 of the SEISMED project, the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven coordinated the inventory and analysis of medical personal data protection legislation in Europe. A report on legal issues of medical data protection legislation in Europe was written by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Centre National pour la Recherche Scientifique (Paris) and the University College Dublin. This report served as a basis for a second important legal deliverable, i.e. the Health Informatics Deontology Code. In this third and final report, we take into account the results of the other two legal reports and we formulate recommendations for the national and European legislator. This report analyses critically the upcoming privacy directive. We propose several recommendations which should be taken into account by the European and national legislator. We focused quite extensively on the use of medical data for research purposes. We had several reasons to do this. One of them is the fact that the use of medical data for research purposes is very popular, in particular now the health care sector is becoming more and more ‘standardized’ by using computers, networksystems and telematics. Legislation is therefore needed. Moreover, the use of medical data for research purposes involves the transfer of data from one Member State to another. Therefore, a harmonized legislation is really needed. We hope that the recommendations we propose, will be taken into consideration by the European legislator.

The Mediterranean Basin is among the top biodiversity hotspots globally due to the high endemism and the vast number of flora and fauna species harbored in its ecosystems. Hellenic ecosystems, being also Mediterranean ecosystems, are biodiversity hotspots that harbor 22% of the species found across the Mediterranean basin, while 10% of the plants occurring in them are endemic. The value of conserving biodiversity in natural ecosystems was recognized at the national level as early as 1937 and ever since a great part of the Hellenic ecosystems is conserved in situ under national and European legislation, as well under International Conventions. A solid, but also large and complicated legal framework is in effect in the country for the protection of the biodiversity and the genetic resources. The legal framework includes Laws that have incorporated Regional (EU) and International legislation into the national legal framework, as well as the national legislation on the conservation of nature, biodiversity and genetic resources. In the current chapter the above legal framework, under which a notable part of the surface of the country is currently protected, will be presented in short.

The article reveals the features of the system of legal guarantees for the implementation of the administrative-legal status of the Commissioner for ECHR affairs. It was established that it is not enough to enshrine the rights and duties of a public servant in national legislation, it is necessary to provide forms (legal procedures) and guarantees of their implementation (legal guarantees). Precisely because of this, when the activity of a subject of public administration or an individual public servant becomes ineffective, the question arises about the guarantees that ensure its activity and contribute to the realization of its legal status. It has been proven that the material guarantees of the realization of the administrative-legal status of the Commissioner for ECHR cases are fixed mainly by the norms of national legislation, while the organizational guarantees - by the norms of European legislation, which is clearly confirmed by the provisions of national and European legislation. It is emphasized that the state «Ukraine» (represented by the Commissioner for ECHR affairs), as a party to the case under consideration at the ECHR, has its own set of legal guarantees that allow protecting the authority of the country as a democratic, legal and social state that resolves all issues based on the priority of human and citizen rights and freedoms. It was concluded that the guarantees of the implementation of the administrative and legal status of the Commissioner for the ECHR are the means of direct implementation of the tasks, functions, rights and duties stipulated by the acts of national and European legislation, which are fixed for the position of the Commissioner for the ECHR. It has been proven that the guarantees of the implementation of the administrative and legal status of the Commissioner for the ECHR include: 1) the norms of administrative law that establish the legal status of the Commissioner for the ECHR, namely, the tasks, functions, rights and duties assigned to this political position ; 2) principles of consideration of the case at the ECtHR; 3) legal institutions of additional legal, social or other assistance and support; 4) forms of procedural activity of the ECtHR; 5) actions of individual participants in the process. It was established that none of the national or European acts analyzed by us provide for coercive measures that would be applied to the Commissioner for ECHR cases as a person who poorly or ineffectively fulfills his official duties. It is proposed to enshrine the grounds of «responsibility» of persons holding political positions in the system of executive authorities in the national legislation.

The European Council has established the first legal framework for the fundamental right to the protection of personal data, namely the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Automatic Processing of Personal Data (Convention 108). The right to the protection of personal data is closely linked - but not identical - to the right of private life established by Article 8 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights (hereinafter, the ECHR). Article 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (hereinafter, the Charter) expressly recognized the right of private life as an autonomous fundamental right. The importance awarded by the EU to the protection of personal data is also highlighted at Article 16 of the TFEU. The protection of personal data arises out of the question of the protection of individual rights by the State and has evolved into the question of how the the State treats and uses its citizens' personal data. On the contrary, in private commercial relationships, the right to the protection of personal data has a horizontal dimension. Does the Charter's fundamental right of personal data protection have direct effect in domestic legal orders? The CJEU has not yet pronounced on the enforceability of this right, however the legal scholar has already considered that Article 16 of the TFEU can be directly invoked. To be directly enforceable in front of domestic jurisdiction, the right to the protection of personal data should be specified by a specific legislation in the EU. To have a full picture it is thus paramount to consider the details of legislation in combination with primary law.Thus, in the next European legislature, a general reform of the data protection framework is envisaged to account for the challenges posed by new technologies of information, globalisation and the increasingly common practice of using personal data to prevent criminal and terrorist actions. The legislative package for the protection of personal data concerns two proposals: a Regulation that generally covers the treatment of personal data within the EU, both in the private and public sectors, and a Directive on Data Retention that aims to prevent, detect or to pursue criminal acts. This contribution not only clarifies the specific content of companies' obligations to respect the European standard for the protection of personal data but also discusses the proposal to revise the general framework to respect the Charter's acknowledgment of the fundamental right of personal data protection. The forthcoming legislative reform will represent an important reference point for countries - such as Switzerland - that are not members of the European Union. This paper assesses whether the European legislative reform on the protection of personal data, in conjunction with national law, responds in a satisfactory manner to the challenges posed by technological evolution and widespread use of the Internet. In recent years, the question of State regulation of the processing of personal data by private companies has become urgent as allegations of unauthorized access to personal data have been hotly debated in the European press. Thus, the paper shall first analyse, the appropriateness of European and States' legislation to properly regulate the effective protection of personal data, in particular of obligations applicable to companies storing and processing personal data on European soil. Does the proposed European legislation in the context of the EU's international agreements with the US provide sufficient legal safeguards to ensure the effective protection of personal data in the post-Snowden era? Specific subparts are devoted to the European reform of companies' criminal liability in cases of cyber-attack (a) and of specific obligations imposed on providers of cloud computing services (b). In the second part, I comment on the interpretation of the European data-protection legislation, provided by the Court of Justice, regarding the obligations imposed upon 'intermediaries' that process personal data, such as the Internet service providers (a) and Internet search engines (b). The Court of Justice has interpreted the European legislation in a manner that allows courts and national authorities to impose on companies a set of safeguards to protect individuals against the infringement of copyright and privacy rights.

The article highlights the legal concerns surrounding the protection of minors' personal data. The writers have conducted an original study of the sources regulating civil and labor relations in the field of acquiring and using personal data. The expansion and use of information technology and online communications can potentially lead to the violation of personal rights by the owners of personal data, both in workplace settings and in the daily lives of ordinary residents. The purpose of this article is to highlight issues concerning the collection, storage, use, and dissemination of the personal data of a minor, as well as to develop methods to protect the personal data of a child based on a comprehensive analysis of international acts, Ukrainian legislation, unique literature, and case law materials pertaining to the protection of personal data of a minor. Based on the analysis of national legislation and case law of the European Union, the author concludes that the right to personal data protection is one of the forms of realization of the right to respect for private and family life. The obligation to protect person's rights to processing and storage of his or her private information is a negative obligation on the part of both the State and the owners of personal data. The article addresses current difficulties concerning the security of children' personal data under current civil and medical legislation in Ukraine and other countries. The provisions of the General Data Protection Regulation, the California Consumer Privacy Act, and Ukraine's "On Personal Data Protection" Law are compared. Possible steps to establish further protection of children's personal data during collection and processing, whether utilizing websites, video games, online purchases, and so on, are proposed. The paper concludes that state functions should be executed without necessitating individuals' consent for the collection of personal data. Personal data processing should be carried out within the framework and on the basis of Ukrainian laws and regulations, taking into account international conventions in this area. The analysis of methods for safeguarding children's personal data enabled the identification of supplementary avenues for data protection. These include acquiring copies of personal data by both children and their parents, rectifying inaccuracies, completing incomplete data, exercising the 'right to be forgotten' and the 'right to erasure' of personal data, invalidating transactions, and seeking compensation for material and moral damages arising from the unlawful use of personal data

Sanığın haklarını güvence altına alan en önemli haklardan birisi de adil yargılanma hakkıdır. Ulusal ve uluslararası mevzuata bakıldığında adil yargılanma hakkının birçok alt hak ve ilkeyi de içerisinde barındırdığı görülecektir. Avrupa İnsan Hakları Sözleşmesi ve Ceza Muhakemesi Kanunu’nda açıkça düzenlenmemişse de, bu haklardan birisi sanığın duruşmada hazır bulunma hakkıdır. Bununla birlikte gelişen teknoloji ve modernleşme sonucunda Sesli ve Görüntülü Bilişim Sistemi (SEGBİS) uygulamamıza girmiştir. Faydaları olduğu gibi sakıncalarının da olduğu belirtilen SEGBİS uygulaması ile yargılama yapılması zaman zaman eleştirilmektedir. Bu çalışmada da, sanığın duruşmada hazır bulunma hakkı ve SEGBİS sistemi arasındaki ilişki, adil yargılanma hakkı kapsamında, gerek uluslararası gerekse de ulusal mevzuat ve içtihatlar bakımından incelenmiş; doktrindeki görüşler, yargı kararları ve ulaşılan sonuçlar aktarılmaya çalışılmıştır.

Legal support for an environmentally balanced system of natural resource management in terms of European integration of Ukraine

The legal nature of video games in terms of copyright is hard to determine. Video games are highly interactive multimedia that are made up of individual elements that are the ‘product’ of creative effort and expertise. Video games are also complex multimedia works that combine video, music, art and characters. There is a debate on which work is qualified to be copyright protected: is it the video game as a whole or the individual elements of it? To question further, under which category of protected works should they be classified? This article will shed light on the above considerations by employing a combination of doctrinal and comparative analyses. European and national legislation and case law will be analysed, with particular emphasis on four national jurisdictions: Germany, France, Greece and the UK. The article discusses the divergent opinions among academics, national and European case law, and will suggest that copyright registration of video games would provide more clarity.

If one of the EU Institutions is asked by a citizen to disclose a document which contains personal data, a difficult and sensitive situation can arise. The person asking for the information invokes his or her right of access to documents, while the Institution is obliged to respect the right to data protection of the person to whom the information in the document relates. Two fundamental rights can lead to opposing claims. How this collision can be solved is the focus of this article. It appears that the current legislation in which the right to public access to documents (Regulation 1049/2001) and the right to data protection (Regulation 45/2001) are elaborated does not sufficiently address this possible collision. Although in November 2007 the Court of First Instance has clarified the legal framework to a certain extent, in the judgment in the so-called Bavarian Lager case, questions still remain. It is therefore argued that the legislation should be changed in this respect. Inspired by examples from national legislation and case law from the European Court of Justice as well as the European Court of Human Rights a concrete proposal is developed, which is timely since the Regulation on access to documents is currently under revision.

This article discusses the legislative framework of data protection and health law in today’s world where the individual has become an active player in governing his health. The individual’s protection within the traditional treatment relationship between the care provider and the care receiver is subject to substantial changes amidst technological and health innovations. The traditional, clinical health setting is complemented with actors from a non-clinical background, such as commercial companies that provide healthcare deliverables. New mechanisms for data protection and safeguarding data subject’s rights are required. The European Health Data Space Regulation is a good starting point, since it enables individuals to obtain a copy of their health data, to share and rectify these. However, we observe three gaps in the individual’s data protection and his position vis-à-vis commercial companies, i.e. in the domain of legislation, governance and in the interaction between the care provider and care receiver. The individual plays a role as a patient, but also as an individual with a particular lifestyle who uses wearables and buys commercial DNA tests. The individual’s monitoring of his own health with devices does not necessarily fall within the scope of existing European and national legislation on data protection and health. Keywords: European Health Data Space | fundamental rights | individual and informational self-determination | technological innovations

The relationship between data protection law and antitrust law is – also and especially with regard to undertakings with a dominant position in the market of digital economy (i.e. big tech companies) – with good reason a highlighted subject of legislation and case law, legal practice and research activities. This article examines whether and to what extent the antitrust law-concept of market power may have effects in the fields of data protection law. The very elements of lawfulness laid down in Article 6 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which are decisive for the lawful processing of personal data, are used as a reference for this purpose. Market Power, Antitrust Law, Dominant Position, Legitimate Interests, Consent, Data Portability, Voluntariness

Employee monitoring is becoming more and more important in today’s world of digital innovation because of the broad adoption of technologies that both boost productivity and threaten employee privacy. Better legal frameworks are needed for practices like tracking GPS, analysing email conversations, and monitoring computer activity. This is required for achieving a fair balance between employee privacy rights and data protection. Nowadays, there are nearly limitless opportunities for monitoring thanks to the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning technology. This advancement in employee monitoring, while offering significant benefits for resource management and security, also raises new challenges in terms of privacy and ethics. The purpose of this article is to explore and identify a balanced approach to employee monitoring in the modern world, where digital technologies are becoming increasingly important in the workplace. By examining the effects of commonly used technologies that, while increasing productivity, may also pose a risk to employee privacy, the authors attempt to strike a healthy balance between data protection and privacy rights.

The paper examines the state of legal regulation of personal data protection of employees in Ukraine. It is established that the national labour legislation does not have special rules on the specifics of regulating the security of processing and storage of personal data in the process of concluding, implementing and terminating employment relations. With this in mind, the authors refer to the experience of international and European institutions in regulating this area. It is established that the ILO and EU instruments have a broader scope than national legislation, namely, they contain not only general rules, but also those regulating relations in the field of employment and employment. Given Ukraine's commitment to improve its personal data protection legislation in order to bring it in line with the GDPR as part of the implementation of the Association Agreement with the European Union, the authors propose a number of measures to improve the mechanisms and means of legal regulation of employee personal data protection in the context of digital and European integration. These include - introduction of international standards for ensuring mechanisms related to the security, protection and defence of employee personal data; - creation of a legal regime for the protection and defence of employee personal data in accordance with the European Regulation; - establishment of liability and determination of types of punishment for violation of legislation in the field of protection of employee personal data; - introduction of special provisions in the Labour Code of Ukraine regarding the employer's obligation to protect personal data. It is noted that in connection with the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine and the introduction of martial law, this issue has become even more relevant and requires further legislative consolidation and consideration of international experience and analysis of the current state, taking into account the existing practical component.