Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Genetic Data And The Data Protection Regulation: A Good Start, But Prob-Lems Remain, Dara Hallinan, Michael Friedewald, Paul De Hert

Michael Friedewald

Genes are the recipe, which is followed to create each person. Genetic data is data which refers to these genes. As genetic data is a representation of the biological architecture of the individual, it has been seen to have a number of unique features. Data protection law deals with the processing of ‘personal data’ and is a key area of law in the regulation of the use of genetic data. It is currently elaborated at European level by Directive 95/46. Owing to the unique qualities of genetic data, there have been numer-ous criticisms of the Directive’s suitability to achieve its …