National
Omnibus Laws
Presented
below are the texts of data protection laws in English, or in English
translation where available. State/Provincial data protection laws can
be found here. In cases where a law is not available in English, we
provide information where the text of that law can be obtained.
Click on
the country name below to go to the appropriate law text(s).
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Chile
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Iceland
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Japan
Latvia
Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Malta
The Netherlands
New Zealand
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Slovak Republic
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
United Kingdom
The sources
for this information are:
- Business
Guide to Privacy and Data Protection Legislation (1996) edited
by Charles Franklin can be obtained from the International Chamber
of Commerce (ICC), in North America:
ICC Publishing, Inc.
156 Fifth Avenue, Suite 308
New York, NY 10010
USA
Phone:
(212) 206 1150
Fax: (212) 633 6025
In Europe
and elsewhere:
ICC Publishing S.A.
38, Cours Albert 1er
75008 Paris
France
Phone:
(1) 49 53 29 23/29 56
Fax: (1) 49 53 29 02
E-mail: ICCPUB@ibmnet.com
- The
Direct Marketing Association [US] for the laws of Poland and Chile,
and the Direct Marketing Association of Poland for Poland's law
- Privacy
Laws and Business
- Communications
from the Data Protection Commissions
Argentina
The
Personal Data Protection Act, also known as Habeas
Data, Law 25,326, October 4, 2000.
Australia
Privacy Act , November 1988, Consolidated May 1997.
Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act, No. 155, 2000.
December 21, 2000. This document is also available in PDF and Word formats.
Law summary from Freehills, Hollingdale and Page.
Austria
Data Protection
Act 2000, Austrian Federal Law Gazette part I No. 165/1999 (Datenschutzgesetz
2000 or DSG 2000).
Belgium
Consolidated
Version of the Belgian Law of December 8,1992 on Privacy Protection
in Relation to the Processing of Personal Data as Modified by the Law
of December 11, 1998 implementing Directive 95/46/EC, December
1992. (Unofficial English translation)
Canada
The Privacy Act, July 1983.
Personal Information Protection and Electronics Documents Act,
April 13, 2000.
Chile
Act on the Protection of Personal Data, August 1998.
Czech
Republic
Act on the Protection of Personal Data in Information Systems,
April 1992.
Act
of 4 April 2000 on the Protection of Personal Data and on Amendment
to Some Related Acts,
No. 101, April 2000.
Denmark
Danish Private Registers Act (Consolidated), June
1978, Restatement June 1987.
The Danish Public Authorities Registers Act (Consolidated),
June 1978, Restatement June 1987.
Act
on Processing of Personal Data, Act No. 429, May 2000.
Estonia
Personal Data Protection Act, June 1996, Consolidated
July 2002.
Finland
Act
on the Amedment of the Personal Data Act (986) 2000.
France
Act on Data Processing, Data Files and Individual Liberties,
January 1978.
Germany
Federal Data Protection Act, December 1990, Amended
1994.
Federal
Data Protection Act, (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz or BDSG),
January 2002.
Greece
Law No.2472 on the Protection of Individuals with Regard to
the Processing of Personal Data, April 1997.
Hungary
Act LXIII of 1992 on the Protection of Personal Data and the
Publicity of Data of Public Interests (excerpts in English).
Iceland
Act
Concerning the Registration and Handling of Personal Data,
December 1989.
Ireland
Data
Protection Act, Number 25 of 1988.
Data
Protection (Amendment) Act, Number
6 of 2003.
Law
summary from
the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.
Israel
Protection of Privacy Law, February 1981.
Italy
Processing of Personal Data Act, January 1997.
Japan
Law
for the Protection of Computer Processed Data Held by Administrative
Organs, December 1988.
Latvia
Personal
Data Protection Law,
March 23, 2000.
Liechtenstein
Data
Protection Act of 14th March 2002 (unofficial translation).
Ordinance on the Data
Protection Act of 9 July 2002 (unofficial translation). Both
are Word doucments.
Lithuania
Law
on Legal Protection of Personal Data,
No. IX-1296, January 2003.
Luxembourg
Act of 30 March 1979 Organising the Identification of Physical and
Legal Persons by Number.
Act of 31 March 1979 Regulating the Use of Nominal Data in Data
Processing.
Law
of 2 August 2002 on the Protection of Persons with Regard to the Processing
of Personal Data.
Malta
Data
Protection Act
(Act
XXVI of 2001), Amended March 22, 2002, November 15, 2002 and July
15, 2003.
The
Netherlands
Data Protection Act, July 1989.
Personal Data Protection Act, July 2000
New
Zealand
Privacy Act, May 1993.
Privacy Amendment Act, 1993.
Privacy Amendment Act, 1994.
Norway
Act Relating to Personal Data Registers, June 1978.
Act
of 14 April 2000 No. 31 Relating to the Processing of Personal Data
(Personal Data Act), April 2000.
Poland
Law of August 29, 1997 on the Protection of Personal Data.
Portugal
Act
on the Protection of Personal Data, October 1998.
Romania
Law
no. 677/2001 for the Protection of Persons Concerning the Processing
of Personal Data and Free Circulation of Such Data.
Russia
Information Computerization and Protection of Information,
1995.
Participation in International Information Exchange, 1996.
Slovak
Republic
Act
No. 428 of 3 July 2002 on Personal Data Protection.
Slovenia
Personal
Data Protection Act , RS
No. 55/99.
Spain
Law
15/99 on the Protection of Data of a Personal Character, December
13, 1999.
Sweden
Personal
Data Protection Act
(1998:204), October 24, 1998.
Switzerland
The Federal Law on Data Protection, June 1992.
Taiwan
Computer-Processed Personal Data Protection Law, August
1995.
Thailand
Official
Information Act,B.E.2540(September
1997).
United
Kingdom
Data Protection Act, July 1998.
Page last
updated April 27, 2004
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