Data Protection: Convention 108

The loss or theft of your data can have severe consequences. Some of the personal information stored on your computer may be difficult or impossible to replace, or could give cybercriminals the opportunity to steal your digital identity and your money, with great potential damage to your e-reputation.

The Council of Europe’s Convention 108 is the first binding international instrument which protects the individual against potential abuses in the collection and processing of personal data. For example, it outlaws the processing of "sensitive" data on a person's race, politics, health, religion, sexual life, criminal record, etc., in the absence of proper legal safeguards. The Convention also enshrines the individual's right to know that information is stored on him or her and, if necessary, to have it corrected.