The Article 29 Working Party (WP29) published – on 27 June 2013 – Opinion 06/2013 on open data and public sector information (PSI) reuse (WP207), which was adopted on 5 June 2013. WP29 recommends data protection impact assessments (PIAs) to be carried out before PSI is made available for reuse. ‘The re-use of [PSI] may bring benefits to society, including greater transparency of the public sector and stimulating innovation’, stated WP29. ‘[WP29] stresses that it is important to have a firm legal basis for making personal data publicly available, taking into account the relevant data protection rules, including the principles of proportionality, purpose limitation and data minimisation.’ WP29 recommends public bodies to follow ‘data protection by design and default’ principles, and carry out PIAs before making any PSI containing personal data reusable, including anonymised datasets derived from personal data. A balanced approach needs to be followed and data protection law must help guide the selection process.
Read more
