DATA PROTECTION AND THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY IN THE COMPUTER AGE – THROUGH LAW ENFORCEMENT OR THROUGH EDUCATION?

In the age of rising power of the electronic information and communication technology, processes of data aggregation and concentration about people are inevitable. Humans are slowly but surely losing control over computers and similar "thinking", artificially intelligent machines. Wherever centralized information systems for personal data are established, there are centers of strong control over life and activities of everyone. The bureaucrats and technocrats are thrilled by such possibilities. In the data centers they see new automated management tools and require detailed data collection for every human activity, however insignificant. The humanists, on the other hand, are distrustful of that novel management trend. They see it as a means of enslaving the humans. In this paper we analyze the growing dangers of the growing capabilities for storage and processing of personal data in the triangle consisting of the technological developments, the drafting of data protection laws and the citizens. We argue that, in the long run, the only way out of potential abuse of the right to privacy as a human right is not through new data protection laws, supervisory instances, data policing and enforcement, but through education of all players in that triangle on all aspects of data protection and the right to privacy in the computer age.