The Right to Privacy and the Obligation to Transfer and Authenticate Personal Data through the Internet: Conflicting Issues

Abstract

Contemporary legal and commercial solutions practised by various types of businesses are associated with a definition of precisely specified obligations imposed on the actors of the indicated activities (natural persons, legal persons and other legal entities). This also includes an obligation to perform specific actions only (or in parallel) electronically, including the implementation and application of top-down (authoritative) authentication processes, defined by legislation and by commercial entities. In practice, there is a lot of controversy concerning both the necessity of such solutions and the definition of the nature and scope of protection of the rights of individuals who are obliged to transfer certain information in this way. This is not only about minimizing the possible liability of the specific actor who obtains this type of data (the administrative body, institution or entity, e.g. an entrepreneur) for its loss and/or improper use, but in general about justifying the necessity of this type of obligation. Analysis of these issues will be presented as part of a substantive study considered in the light of limits for protecting the right to privacy.