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The conflicts between the Whistleblower Protection Directive and the GDPR – COVID-19, a legal basis to infringe on the rights of the data subject in order to secure the protection of whistleblowers?

Espinasse, Amanda LU (2020) JURM02 20201
Department of Law
Faculty of Law
Abstract
On the 7th of October 2019, the Council of Europe published a press release, “Better protection of whistle-blowers: new EU-wide rules to kick in in 2021”. In the press release, the Council of Europe stated that a new directive, the Whistleblower Protection Directive, would increase protection of whistle-blowers. At the same time, companies and authorities were still struggling with the complicated regulations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The question that caught my attention to the subject was therefore, would it be possible to work in compliance with both the Whistleblower Protection Directive and the GDPR?

My research questions are; 1. What are the conflicts between the Whistleblower Protection Directive... (More)
On the 7th of October 2019, the Council of Europe published a press release, “Better protection of whistle-blowers: new EU-wide rules to kick in in 2021”. In the press release, the Council of Europe stated that a new directive, the Whistleblower Protection Directive, would increase protection of whistle-blowers. At the same time, companies and authorities were still struggling with the complicated regulations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The question that caught my attention to the subject was therefore, would it be possible to work in compliance with both the Whistleblower Protection Directive and the GDPR?

My research questions are; 1. What are the conflicts between the Whistleblower Protection Directive regarding reporting channels and the GDPR? 2. What are the conflicts between the Whistleblower Protection Directive regarding investigations and the GDPR? 3. Is it possible for companies to work in compliance with both the Whistleblower Protection Directive and the GDPR? 3.(a) If the third question is answered in the affirmative, how shall they act?

When investigating the conflicting articles, it is clear that they protect two different interests. On the one hand, the whistleblowers that otherwise may suffer from retaliation. On the other hand, the data subjects that otherwise may have their personal data unjustly collected and processed.

Through the thesis I highlight five different conflicts. These are presented descriptively and analysed continuously together with literature, reports and articles. The majority of the conflicts are solved by prioritizing the protection of whistleblowers due to public interest. COVID-19 is one example that I use to show how crises like pandemics prove that anti-corruption is in the public interest. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Den 7:e oktober 2019 publicerade Europarådet ett pressmeddelande, ”Better
protection of whistle-blowers: new EU-wide rules to kick in in 2021”. I pressmeddelandet framgick det att ett nytt direktiv, Visselblåsardirektivet, skulle komma att förbättra skyddet för visselblåsare. Samtidigt arbetade företag och myndigheter fortfarande hårt för att anpassa sig till den relativt nya dataskyddsförordningen,
GDPR. När jag läste detta pressmeddelande väcktes därför en fråga hos mig, skulle det bli möjligt att arbeta utifrån både direktivet och förordningen samtidigt?

Mina frågeställningar är; 1. Vilka konflikter finns det mellan Visselblåsardirektivet kopplat till rapporteringskanaler och GDPR? 2. Vilka konflikter finns det mellan... (More)
Den 7:e oktober 2019 publicerade Europarådet ett pressmeddelande, ”Better
protection of whistle-blowers: new EU-wide rules to kick in in 2021”. I pressmeddelandet framgick det att ett nytt direktiv, Visselblåsardirektivet, skulle komma att förbättra skyddet för visselblåsare. Samtidigt arbetade företag och myndigheter fortfarande hårt för att anpassa sig till den relativt nya dataskyddsförordningen,
GDPR. När jag läste detta pressmeddelande väcktes därför en fråga hos mig, skulle det bli möjligt att arbeta utifrån både direktivet och förordningen samtidigt?

Mina frågeställningar är; 1. Vilka konflikter finns det mellan Visselblåsardirektivet kopplat till rapporteringskanaler och GDPR? 2. Vilka konflikter finns det mellan Visselblåsardirektivet kopplat till utredningar och GDPR? 3. Är det möjligt för företag att arbeta utifrån både direktivet och förordningen samtidigt? 3.(a) Om tredje frågan besvaras jakande, hur ska de arbeta?

När jag undersökt konflikter mellan direktivet och förordningen har det blivit tydligt att de skyddar två olika subjekt. Det ena skyddar visselblåsare som annars kan råka ut för repressalier. Det andra skyddar datasubjekt som annars kan få sin personliga data samlad och använd i strid mot GDPR.

I examensarbetet belyser jag fem olika konflikter. Dessa presenteras och
analyseras kontinuerligt tillsammans med litteratur, rapporter och artiklar. Majoriteten av konflikterna löses genom att prioritera skyddet för visselblåsare motiverat utifrån samhällsintresse. Jag använder bland annatCOVID-19 för att exemplifiera hur kriser, såsom pandemier, visar att antikorruption är ett samhällsintresse. (Less)
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author
Espinasse, Amanda LU
supervisor
organization
course
JURM02 20201
year
type
H3 - Professional qualifications (4 Years - )
subject
keywords
Labour law, Arbetsrätt, EU law, EU-rätt, Anti-corruption, Anti-korruption, GDPR, Data protection, Dataskyddsregler, Whistleblower, Visselblåssare, COVID-19
language
English
id
9010489
date added to LUP
2020-06-23 13:30:36
date last changed
2020-06-23 13:30:36
@misc{9010489,
  abstract     = {{On the 7th of October 2019, the Council of Europe published a press release, “Better protection of whistle-blowers: new EU-wide rules to kick in in 2021”. In the press release, the Council of Europe stated that a new directive, the Whistleblower Protection Directive, would increase protection of whistle-blowers. At the same time, companies and authorities were still struggling with the complicated regulations of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The question that caught my attention to the subject was therefore, would it be possible to work in compliance with both the Whistleblower Protection Directive and the GDPR? 

My research questions are; 1. What are the conflicts between the Whistleblower Protection Directive regarding reporting channels and the GDPR? 2. What are the conflicts between the Whistleblower Protection Directive regarding investigations and the GDPR? 3. Is it possible for companies to work in compliance with both the Whistleblower Protection Directive and the GDPR? 3.(a) If the third question is answered in the affirmative, how shall they act? 

When investigating the conflicting articles, it is clear that they protect two different interests. On the one hand, the whistleblowers that otherwise may suffer from retaliation. On the other hand, the data subjects that otherwise may have their personal data unjustly collected and processed. 

Through the thesis I highlight five different conflicts. These are presented descriptively and analysed continuously together with literature, reports and articles. The majority of the conflicts are solved by prioritizing the protection of whistleblowers due to public interest. COVID-19 is one example that I use to show how crises like pandemics prove that anti-corruption is in the public interest.}},
  author       = {{Espinasse, Amanda}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The conflicts between the Whistleblower Protection Directive and the GDPR – COVID-19, a legal basis to infringe on the rights of the data subject in order to secure the protection of whistleblowers?}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}