Arhivski vjesnik, Vol. 63 No. 1, 2020.
Pregledni rad
https://doi.org/10.36506/av.63.1
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Description of Personal Data in Archival Records: Some Practical and Ethical Aspects
Nenad Bukvić
orcid.org/0000-0002-7417-4500
; Hrvatski državni arhiv
Sažetak
In order to present archival records they store and facilitate their usage archives produce various types of finding aids. Previously these finding aids were accessible in Croatian archives in archival reading rooms in printed form, whereas in recent times they have become more accessible in digital form on websites of archives or on network information systems. In this way the descriptions of archival records become publicly available to a large number of users, without geographical or time constraints, by which archives mostly do not possess tools or resources to monitor the manner users further dispose of that descriptive data. This further reinforces the practical and ethical issues regarding the formation of archival description in a way that it provides the whole information on records’ contents and the context of their creation, without hiding (omitting) and at the same time does not reveal data responsible for the possible limited availability of records. For the last twenty years Croatia has been applying ISAD(G) and ISAAR(CPF), the international archival standards for describing archival records. Despite that, there are departures in practice and misgivings regarding the interpretation of contents and the role of individual descriptive elements, as well as the structure of finding aids. Such departures are also expected in the segment that describes personal data, bearing in mind that both ISAD(G) and ISAAR(CPF) contain general rules without particular guidelines for the description of archival records containing data with limited availability. Misgivings in practice can result in a passive approach in processing and describing personal data which can, for example, manifest by producing finding aids only for internal needs (without making them available to users), ignoring or (un)intentionally withholding information on the existence of personal data in archival records and terms of their availability. Since 2018 Croatia has been applying two new provisions that are important in the context of the processing and description of personal data in archival records. They are the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Act on Archival Records and Archives. The paper describes in detail and compares some of the principles from these two provisions and analyses their influence on the current practice of description of personal data in archival records (defining personal data, processing the data of deceased individuals, the principle of reducing the quantity of data, encouraging the acquirement of data that is important for raising awareness of totalitarian and undemocratic regimes and their consequences). With regard to the very broad definition of personal data archivists always face the question whether the data they will supply in the title or the description of archival units can cause the direct or indirect identification of an individual i.e. the particular issue of endangering someone’s privacy, dignity and other rights. Furthermore, bearing in mind that the Regulation and the Croatian archival act do not impose any limitations regarding the processing of deceased individuals’ data, it can be concluded that there are no formal impediments either for archival description or publishing such data. However, the question remains, regardless of the fact it concerns the data of deceased individuals, whether the ethical principle that archivists abstain from overly exposing data should be upheld, particularly if it concerns sensitive data which can influence the violation of dignity of family members of those individuals. The basic principles of the Regulation include the principle of reducing the quantity of data. It entails that personal data must be appropriate, relevant and limited to necessities in relation to purposes for which they are processed. The application of this principle is particularly important in the context of creating and enhancing the trust between the archives and the public. In other words, this approach conveys the message to the public that they can trust the archival service not to unjustifiably or excessively reveal and publish personal data. Within the context of processing data which is important for enhancing the awareness on the totalitarian and undemocratic regimes and their consequences there is a practical and ethical question on how to maintain the neutral position of archivists and archives as institutions in terms of providing objective description, without the endeavour to interpret on the political or ideological level. Concerning the indicated practical and ethical issues, the application of the guidelines created in October 2018 by the European Archives Group as assistance in implementation of the General Data Protection Regulation is recommended. The guidelines are connected with the Principles of Access to Archives by the International Council on Archives from 2012. This demonstrates that even before the General Data Protection Regulation was adopted the archival community paid considerable attention to ethical issues and standards of good professional practice regarding protection, processing and description of personal data in archival records. However, within the context of the new legislation the paper’s intention is to encourage further scientific and professional addressing of this topic within the Croatian archival community, including producing a guide regarding all aspects of managing personal data in archival records. Besides, the prevailing view is that there is a need for producing a special manual for the description of archival records which contain personal data and other categories of data with limited access, in which the application of standards and current provisions would be illustrated with appropriate practical examples.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
248559
URI
Datum izdavanja:
17.12.2020.
Posjeta: 1.403 *