The purpose of Data Protection Day is to draw attention to the problems of privacy, personal data processing and protection of information.

Since ancient times, people have appreciated the importance of privacy. Aristotle contrasted public life with private life, John Locke believed that people should be guaranteed a private space for their activities, and the English philosopher Jeremiah Bentham described a “panopticon” - an ideal prison in which everyone is deprived of privacy, which fundamentally changes the pattern of behavior.

The starting point for the development of privacy as an institution is believed to be an article published by Samuel Warren and Lewis Brandeis in the Harvard Law Review in 1890 “The Right to Privacy”. The article described the necessity to separate the institution of private life from other institutions of civil law. The reason for this was that at that time the actively developing mass media and newspapers were engaged in discussing the private lives of celebrities and other prominent personalities. It was not always possible to defend oneself with “libel” suits, since “gossip” could be true. So, the authors advanced the concept of the “right to be left alone.” It is noteworthy that the article was triggered by the active discussion in the press of the wedding of the daughter of one of the co-authors, by which he was greatly displeased.

Later, the institution of privacy was actively developed throughout the late 19th and the whole 20th century. The concept of “personal data” was formed in the 70s of the 20th century. It was caused by the economic and technological developments, giving rise to processing of large amounts of data, and the exchange of information about customers and users became an integral part of doing business. This required the isolation of information from the institution of individual private life, making the circulation of personal data clear and transparent. This makes it possible, on the one hand, for people to have the right to protect their privacy, and, on the other hand, for the technology and markets to develop.

The modern life is closely connected to personal data. This includes personal accounts in social media, details of documents, health care data, passwords to personal accounts, card numbers, account numbers, etc.

We take this opportunity to remind you that it is important to keep track of who processes your personal data and for what purposes.