Research study: Evaluation of EU’s Law Enforcement Directive shows implementation still fragmented and insufficient
This study commissioned by EDRi analyses the implementation of the Law Enforcement Directive (LED) in five EU Member States. It shows that even eight years after the LED’s entry into application, the implementation of this crucial instrument for digital rights remains fragmented and insufficient.
LED crucial for digital rights, but implementation leaves much to be desired
The Law Enforcement Directive (LED), often described as the “little sister” of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is a crucial EU instrument to protect digital rights. It provides minimum protection standards for the processing of personal data by law enforcement authorities.
In the wider context of increasing police surveillance and repression, as well as EU’s deregulation agenda cracking down on rights-based laws, EDRi commissioned a timely and necessary analysis of the implementation of the LED in Bulgaria, France. Germany, Greece and Slovenia. The study focuses on four key aspects of the LED data protection framework:
- Exercise and restrictions of data subject rights (Articles 13-17)
- Processing of special categories of data, also known as ‘sensitive’ data (Article 10)
- Alignment of national laws with the LED’s requirements (Article 8)
- New technologies and big data
Across all key issues studied, findings show that even eight years after the LED’s entry into application, its implementation is still highly fragmented across Member States and largely insufficient, both in terms of legal transposition and practice.
The study also outlines clear areas of action and improvement to achieve a harmonised standard across the EU for the implementation of the LED.
