Government cloud computing and the policies of data sovereignty

Government cloud services are a new development at the intersection of electronic government and cloud computing which holds the promise of rendering government service delivery more effective and efficient. Cloud services are virtual, dynamic and potentially stateless which has triggered governments' concern about data sovereignty. This paper explores data sovereignty in relation to government cloud services and how national strategies and international policy evolve. It concludes that for countries data sovereignty presents a legal risk which can not be adequately addressed with technology or through contractual arrangements alone. Governments therefore adopt strategies to retain exclusive jurisdiction over government information. --cloud computing,electronic government,data sovereignty,data ownership,information assurance,international data transfers

Online Personal Data Processing and EU Data Protection Reform. CEPS Task Force Report, April 2013

This report sheds light on the fundamental questions and underlying tensions between current policy objectives, compliance strategies and global trends in online personal data processing, assessing the existing and future framework in terms of effective regulation and public policy. Based on the discussions among the members of the CEPS Digital Forum and independent research carried out by the rapporteurs, policy conclusions are derived with the aim of making EU data protection policy more fit for purpose in today’s online technological context. This report constructively engages with the EU data protection framework, but does not provide a textual analysis of the EU data protection reform proposal as such

Follow the Money! Ownership & Financial Transparency should be a Media Policy Standard

The Council and the Commission of the European Union have so far steered clear of initiating new regulations in response to the High Level Group’s report and other recent calls for action on media freedom and plurality. Nevertheless, Media scholar Kristina Irion of the University of Amsterdam and the Central European University argues that the Union could already do much more to improve the situation in counties of the Western Balkan region by making ownership and financial transparency in the media sector a condition of the accession process

As the EU gears up to reform data protection rules, the rift between individuals and companies over online personal data processing is gaping.

The EU is currently seeking to replace its nearly two decade old policy on data protection for the Internet, social networking and smartphone age. Its proposed reforms seek to deliver better data protection, legal certainty and trust, with the aim of enhancing the EU’s competitiveness. Kristina Irion and Giacomo Luchetta discuss their new report on Online Personal Data Processing and EU Data Protection Reform, arguing that the reforms may fail due to the real risks of the politicisation of data protection, the still fragmented nature of regulations on electronic privacy, and a lack of innovative elements in the proposals

International Assistance and Media Democratization in the Western Balkans: A Cross-National Comparison

International media assistance programs accompanied the democratic media transition in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia with varying intensity. These countries untertook a range of media reforms to conform with accession requirements of the European Union (EU) and the standards of the Council of Europe, among others. This article explores the nexus between the democratic transformation of the media and international media assistance (IMA) as constrained by the local political conditions in the five countries of the Western Balkans. It aims to enhance the understanding of conditions and factors that influence media institution building in the region and evaluates the role of international assistance programs and conditionality mechanisms herein. The cross-national analysis concludes that the effects of IMA are highly constrained by the local context. A decade of IMA of varying intensity is not sufficient to construct media institutions when, in order to function properly, they have to outperform their local context. From today’s vantage point it becomes obvious, that in the short-term scaling-up IMA does not necessarily improve outcomes. The experiences in the region suggest that imported solutions have not been sufficiently cognitive of all aspects of local conditions and international strategies have tended to be rather schematic and have lacked strategic approaches to promote media policy stability, credible media reform and implementation. To a certain extent, the loss of IMA effectiveness is also self-inflicted

European audiovisual media policy in the age of global video on demand services: A case study of Netflix in the Netherlands

This article considers the provisions in the European Union's revised Audiovisual Media Services Directive concerning video on demand (VOD) services and the effectiveness of supply-side cultural diversity regulations in achieving their purported policy goals of increased production and consumption of European works. Because the Netherlands is the 'country of origin' to several multinational VOD services, including Netflix, we conducted a case study of this specific national context. We examine the quota for and prominence of European works, as well as different forms of financial obligations. We find that the former two policy tools may require new strategies to effectively reach their objectives in a nonlinear context. Our evidence also indicates that the latter remains controversial in the domestic audiovisual industry, as stakeholder positions are dependent on the type(s) of production stimulated. Based on this, we argue that securing the independence of producers and ensuring VOD services are transparent with respect to performance data are essential to promoting source diversity and a sustainable value chain

The right to lodge a data protection complaint : ok, but then what? : an empirical study of current practices under the GDPR

Access to data protection remedies constitutes a core element of the enforcement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Individuals confronted with a data protection infringement have the right to turn directly to the judiciary (Article 79 of the GDPR), but they have also the right to lodge a complaint with a Data Protection Authority (DPA) (Article 77 of the GDPR). They can lodge a complaint at the Member State of their habitual residence, of their place of work, or of the Member State of the place of the alleged data protection infringement. Data subjects also have the right to an effective judicial remedy against the decisions of DPAs, as well as in case of lack of action or lack of information about the outcome or progress of their complaint (Article 78 of the GDPR). Individuals can decide to mandate certain civil society organisations to represent them in front of DPAs, or in front of courts (Article 80 of the GDPR). This study examines current DPA practices related to their obligation to facilitate the submission of complaints, granting special attention to the connection between this obligation and the right to an effective judicial remedy against DPAs. It combines legal analysis and the observation of DPA websites, together with insights obtained from the online public register of decisions adopted under the ‘one-stop-shop’ mechanism.Published in June 202