New reference promotes data privacy rights and underscores the need for Palestinian data protection law.
This statement was originally published on 7amleh.org on 13 June 2023.
This reference was created to guide individuals, institutions, and the private sector in the State of Palestine to better protect the right to privacy in dealing with digital data based on Palestinian legislation and International Human Rights Law. Furthermore, it taps into the GDPR, to provide the best practices at this forefront.
Since 2012, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UHRC) has shined a light on the necessity to enshrine and protect human rights both off- and- online. In its twentieth session, the UHRC affirmed that “the same rights people enjoy offline must also be protected online.” In an unwavering resolution, the UN body continues to underline this corpus of rights that became known as digital rights, the entitlements all members of humankind are entitled to enjoy – including the Palestinian people.
7amleh – The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media focuses on digital rights in pursuit of a safe, fair, and free digital space for Palestinians, men and women. In doing so, it gears its programs toward monitoring, researching, advocating, and raising awareness about this dimension of human rights, and it places a focus on the right to privacy and the protection of digital personal data – that is the focus of this guide’s attention.
The Palestinian context marks a departure from core international human rights conventions and best practices on the right to privacy and digital data protection. This major issue exposes the privacy, security, and other rights of Palestinians to whirlwinds of danger and exploitation – the status quo 7amleh has exerted itself for years to change. The Procedural Guide to Palestinian Personal Data Protection in the Digital Space marks one link in 7amleh’s chain of publications and concerted efforts to improve Palestinians’ privacy and data protection. Several publications, surveys, online campaigns, and audiences with stakeholders and decision-makers preceded and informed the development of this guide. Along the way, 7amleh arrived at a prominent finding; Palestinians need and support a Palestinian legislation protecting personal data – a position held by 69 percent of respondents.
In a digital age through and through and increasing use of digital data by individuals, communities, governmental agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the private sector, the significant need to protect these data pressingly stand out. Given the rising technological capabilities of governments and corporations, among others, digital data can be attributed to a specific person or entity, accessed, and used for a slew of purposes, including privacy violations.
In the State of Palestine, the right to privacy is a constitutional right guaranteed by the Amended Basic Law of 2003. The State of Palestine also acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees the right to privacy both online and offline. Therefore, Palestinians – individuals, governmental agencies, NGOs, and the private sector – are expected to respect and protect privacy in all spaces.
However, given the novelty of this entitlement and fast advances in technology, there are very few instruments to protect the right to privacy as a basic digital human right by means of digital data protection. The European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the most important instrument that guarantees the right to privacy in the digital space, providing the best data protection standards at all stages of data processing. Therefore, many non-EU parties adopt the GDPR as an ideal reference for privacy protection and respect in the digital space, especially those dealing with European individuals or entities.
In light of the preceding, this reference was created to guide individuals, institutions, and the private sector in the State of Palestine to better protect the right to privacy in dealing with digital data based on Palestinian legislation and International Human Rights Law. Furthermore, it taps into the GDPR, to provide the best practices at this forefront.
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