EU Data Protection Directive

The EU Data Protection Directive was a set of rules established to protect individuals’ personal data and privacy within the European Union. It mandated that organizations must handle personal information responsibly, ensuring transparency, security, and respecting individuals' rights to control their data. While it laid important groundwork, the Directive allowed some flexibility for countries to implement their own laws. It was later replaced by the more comprehensive General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in 2018, which standardizes data protection rules across the EU, emphasizing consent, data security, and individuals’ rights to access and delete their data.