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INTRODUCTION
REGULATION
10
right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial, and cultural, religious and
linguistic diversity.
(5) The economic and social integration resulting from the functioning
of the internal market has led to a substantial increase in cross-border
flows of personal data. The exchange of personal data between
public and private actors, including natural persons, associations and
undertakings across the Union has increased. National authorities in
the Member States are being called upon by Union law to cooperate
and exchange personal data so as to be able to perform their duties or
carry out tasks on behalf of an authority in another Member State.
(6) Rapid technological developments and globalisation have brought
new challenges for the protection of personal data. The scale of the
collection and sharing of personal data has increased significantly.
Technology allows both private companies and public authorities to
make use of personal data on an unprecedented scale in order to pursue
their activities. Natural persons increasingly make personal information
available publicly and globally. Technology has transformed both the
economy and social life, and should further facilitate the free flow of
personal data within the Union and the transfer to third countries
and international organisations, while ensuring a high level of the
protection of personal data.
(7) Those developments require a strong and more coherent data
protection framework in the Union, backed by strong enforcement,
given the importance of creating the trust that will allow the digital
economy to develop across the internal market. Natural persons should
have control of their own personal data. Legal and practical certainty
for natural persons, economic operators and public authorities should
be enhanced.
(8) Where this Regulation provides for specifications or restrictions of its
rules by Member State law, Member States may, as far as necessary
for coherence and for making the national provisions comprehensible
to the persons to whom they apply, incorporate elements of this
Regulation into their national law.
(9) The objectives and principles of Directive 95/46/EC remain sound,
but it has not prevented fragmentation in the implementation of data
protection across the Union, legal uncertainty or a widespread public
perception that there are significant risks to the protection of natural
persons, in particular with regard to online activity. Differences in the
level of protection of the rights and freedoms of natural persons, in
particular the right to the protection of personal data, with regard to
the processing of personal data in the Member States may prevent the
free flow of personal data throughout the Union. Those differences may
therefore constitute an obstacle to the pursuit of economic activities
at the level of the Union, distort competition and impede authorities
in the discharge of their responsibilities under Union law. Such a
difference in levels of protection is due to the existence of differences
in the implementation and application of Directive 95/46/EC.
(10) In order to ensure a consistent and high level of protection of natural
persons and to remove the obstacles to flows of personal data within
the Union, the level of protection of the rights and freedoms of natural