The Directorate General of Human Rights and Rule of Law to the Council of Europe has issued Guidelines on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data in a world of Big Data.
Big Data represents a new paradigm in the way in which information is collected, combined and analysed. Big Data - which benefit from the interplay with other technological environments such as internet of things and cloud computing - can be a source of significant value and innovation for society, enhancing productivity, public sector performance, and social participation.
The Guidelines are drafted on the basis of the principles of the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data, in the light of its on-going process of modernisation, and are primarily addressed to rule-makers, controllers and processors.
The principles and guidelines cover topics such as:Ethical and socially aware use of data;
Preventive policies and risk-assessment;
Purpose limitation and transparency;
By-design approach;
Consent;
Anonymisation;
Role of the human intervention in Big Data-supported decisions;
Open data;
Education.