Information, Communication & Society

Data Protection of Law Offenders
Peter Blume

Abstract: The article discusses how processing of data related to people who have been convicted, charged or suspected in connection with a crime is regulated. After presenting some of the basic assumptions of data protection, different aspects of Danish law are first analysed. These include conditions of processing both in the public and the private sector, the extent of processing (especially in the Central Criminal Register), rules on security and on access to criminal records. Finally the question of a DNA register is discussed. Next the Council of Europe Police Data Recommendation and Directive 95/46 EC are described. Furthermore, the rules of the Schengen and the Europol Conventions are analysed. It is concluded that the privacy of criminals in many ways is endangered, but that it is still possible to envisage sound data protection combined with necessary crime prevention.