If the Daily Mail is to believed (and I appreciate that’s a
big “if”), then today I have come across another piece of evidence which
indicates that European policy makers may well be incapable of agreeing on the
meaning of some of the most important concepts of data protection law, like
fairness and consent.
This blog is not designed to criticise the policy makers themselves
– more it’s to point out that various communities within Europe have very
different social and cultural expectations as to what is considered appropriate
behaviour. And I’m all for local communities being able to respect their own
cultural sensitivities.
The evidence
is the report that policy makers in Berlin have recently decided that it is not appropriate
for a German TV company to copy the format of the British TV series “One Born Every Minute”, which follows staff and patients on a busy maternity ward.
Why? Well, evidently, because it was an invasion of privacy for newborn babies.
Given that, in the UK, the
viewers only get to see each baby for a few seconds after their birth, it’s really
hard to appreciate why their fundamental rights can take precedence over the rights
of the nursing staff and the patients, who really are the focal points of the
programme, and who would certainly have signed as many consent forms as any
conscientious broadcaster would have created.
I do hope that this story is
inaccurate. I do hope that the inference – which is that “German data protection rules ” have prevented potentially great TV programmes being made in Germany, is incorrect.
And I am so glad that the bods at
the Information Commissioner's Officce are evidently happy that the British version of “One Born Every Minute” doesn’t breach any sensible UK data protection
rules.
If the German viewers aren't allowed to see their own stories, hopefully they can pick up the British version, so that they can enjoy what they have been forbidden to create themselves.
Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2285292/German-city-bans-version-British-reality-One-Born-Every-Minute-claiming-invasion-privacy-newborn.html
Image credit:
OurBabyNews.com
http://www.plushbeds.com/blog/sleep-science/how-to-sleep-when-you-have-a-newborn/
.
Posts
