Necessary Processing of Personal Data

The Data Protection Directive prohibits processing of sensitive data (racial or ethnic origin, political, religious or philosophical convictions, trade union membership and information on health and sex life). All other personal data may be processed, provided processing is deemed necessary in relation to a given situation such as complying with a legal obligation on the part of the controller. The requirement regarding necessity is part of the principle of proportionality which has been under development in Community law since the European Court’s decision in case 11/70 Internationale Handelsgesellschaft. The aim of this article is to clarify the necessity requirement of the Data Protection Directive in terms of the general principle of proportionality. The usefulness of the principle of proportionality as the standard by which processing of personal data may be weighed is illustrated by the Peck-judgement from the European Court of Human Rights.