Eurobarometers on privacy

Picture from: RTD Info magazine Nov 2005
RTF Info is a magazine by European Commission on European Research.

Last number, november 2005, is dedicated to two surveys: Europeans, Science and Technology and Social values, Science and Technology .

One of these questions was privacy:

" Privacy and freedom of expression

Protecting information about our private life from misuse and exploitation - Protecting freedom of speech and information. A very large majority of Europeans are concerned about the need for this dual protection. Almost 70% regard it as “very important” and over a quarter as “fairly important”.

The protection of private life, in particular with the increasing traffic in virtual information, is thus a matter of concern to citizens, reflecting their interest in a subject that is laid down in Article 8 of the Charter of European Fundamental Rights. The application of this right constitutes a very clear challenge in a society where information obtained by those engaged in electronic commerce, insurance, health care and many other private spheres of activity is stored in databanks. Not only are these insufficiently protected against possible piracy but their very use by the operators in question can raise ethical questions due to the growing intrusion into an individual’s private life.

The Czechs (81%), the Greeks (78%) and the British (77%) prioritise the importance of protecting personal data – as do the Icelandics (83%) and the Norwegians (81%) outside the EU. A similar unanimity is found for freedom of speech and information, also laid down in the Charter of European Fundamental Rights: 95% of Europeans attach importance to this (including the 68% who regard it as “very important”). A similar degree of unanimity is found throughout the various socio-cultural strata. However, in the ‘new’ EU states there is a tendency maybe to view the importance of the application of these rights in more relative terms. "