The right to privacy prevents governments, businesses and criminals from intruding into your life. Things like your political opinions, your phone calls and emails, your photos, your medical history, your bank details and your internet browsing history are all protected by the right to privacy. Our right to privacy gives us space to look for information, form opinions and take decisions about issues free from social pressure or judgement. Because a lot of our information is held in the online world, we often use the term ‘data protection’ instead of privacy. Although new technology brings many opportunities, it also brings dangers. Personal information about us is increasingly held in databases and passed over the internet. Governments use mass surveillance to collect information about what we do over the internet, like what we are reading, and who we are talking to. Businesses collect information about us and use it to make decisions about us without our knowledge. This topic covers work we do to persuade the EU to protect our privacy, especially online, and to educate the public about the importance of data protection and how they can protect themselves.
