The third episode of the Oral History of Data Protection explores the development of data protection in Europe through the eyes of Dr Waltraut Kotschy, former Executive Member of the Austrian Data Protection Commission.
Dr Kotschy is interviewed by Prof. Laura Drechsler, Assistant Professor at KU Leuven for Data Law and researcher for the Belgian State Archives, and Prof. Gloria González Fuster, Director of the Law, Science, Technology and Society (LSTS) Research Group at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB).
The mini video series is a collaborative project of the European Data Protection Supervisor and LSTS Research Group at the Vrije Universitet Brussel. This series features in-depth interviews with leading experts in data protection who shed light on how the landscape of data protection has transformed over time and what lies ahead.
Background information:
Dr Waltraut Kotschy has been at the forefront of Austrian data protection since the 1970s, and actively involved in multiple European fora (e.g. at the Council of Europe, or the Article 20 Working Party) for decades.
In this interview, Dr Kotschy revisits a life of data protection. She comes back to her early work for the Austrian government, and to her contribution to Austrian Data Protection Commission, among other subjects. Detailing the circumstances that led to the crucial judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in European Commission v Republic of Austria (C‑614/10) in 2012, she provides invaluable information on the evolution of the meaning of the ‘independence’ of data protection authorities.
For background, read more:
Waltraut Kotschy (2006), ‘The Austrian e-Government system–towards data protection compatible e-Government’, in Рroceedings of the 2nd International Workshop EG&DP, pp. 32-39, available here.
Judgment of the Court (Grand Chamber) of 16 October 2012, European Commission v Republic of Austria, Case C‑614/10, available here.