New Spanish Data Protection Law raises concerns over the use of sensitive data by political parties
The new Law on Data Protection and Digital Rights (LOPD), recently enacted in Spain, includes a highly controversial provision allowing political parties and organizations to collect and use personal data revealing political views of individuals.
The controversial article was introduced as a last-minute amendment to the bill, which was voted unanimously on October 18 by the House of Representatives (Congreso de los Diputados). By then, the contentious article had largely gone unnoticed by the public opinion. Shortly after that, however, concerns that political parties might get broad leeway to process sensitive personal data were widely reported in the mainstream media. Nonetheless, the Spanish Senate definitively approved the law on November 21 – including the controversial section. The text is expected to be officially published shortly.
