Interoperability of information systems in the area of freedom, security and justice: a surveillance nightmare for third country nationals

Abstract

An American author writing about the impact of then newly adopted EU Data Protection Directive on trans-Atlantic relations observed in 2002 that “to the extent that Europeans feel vulnerable as a result of terrorism, they may shift their emphasis away from data privacy and toward protective antiterrorist surveillance programs” (Salbu, 2002)” In the early days of 2000’s, his dystopian prediction could not feel more ill-suited: data protection regime was for the first time harmonised on the EU level due to the implementation of the Data Protection Directive by the Member States. In 2000 the EU introduced data protection rules for its own institutions and organs.