Topical Aspects of the Legal protection of Personal Data in the European Union, the United States and Russia

Abstract

In the European Union the highest standards in the field of personal data protection were established two decades ago. Going forward, in a number of European legal sources, these standards have been developed and supplemented, and now the protection of personal data in accordance with EU law is among the fundamental Human Rights. The EU is dominated by the trend of a universal approach to the protection of personal data, the harmonization and unification of the relevant rules of EU law for all 28 Member States. In comparison, the United States has been adopting laws restricting the use of personal data in certain narrow areas (in the medical records, credit reports, video records, etc.) In Russia an extensive regulatory framework has been developed in the field of personal data protection taking into account the principles of the Council of Europa Convention №108 as of 28.01.1981. Due to the escalating and aggravating global issue of terrorism many countries have enhanced the security measures that increase the ability of law enforcement to access personal information without notifying the users.