Our View: Data protection law does need updating

 

STROVOLOS mayor Savvas Eliophotou lost his legal battle in defence of the practice of traffic wardens taking photographs of illegally parked cars. The Supreme Court sided with the Commissioner of Personal Data Protection, who had told Strovolos Municipality that taking pictures of cars parked illegally was a violation of personal data.

In short, the Personal Data Protection law will continue to protect the law-breakers, who will now refuse to pay their parking fines on the false grounds that they had not parked their car illegally. The Supreme Court issued its decision based on its interpretation of the law, but it is a bad law that allows cheats and liars to break other laws with impunity. 

Eliophotou was correct in calling for the updating of the law because, as it stands, it prevents the enforcement of other laws. 

 

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.