On 11 February 2014, Marc Tarabella (S&D, Belgium) and Jean Louis Cottigny (S&D, France), both Members of the European Parliament, tabled a Parliamentary Question (PQ) on the protection of health data on the Internet.
Parliamentary questions are a direct form of
parliamentary scrutiny from the Members of the European Parliament of other EU
institutions and bodies.
In particular, they inquire the Commission about:
1. How does the Commission intend to draw up guidelines and legislate with regard to legal aspects and data protection in the field of online health.
2. How will the Commission ensure that the sharing, processing and analysis of data are done securely, striking a balance between data access and data protection.
Although an answer has not been provided yet, the Commission shall reply within six weeks of being forwarded to the addressees. Otherwise, the PQ shall, at the request of the author, be placed on the agenda for the next meeting of the committee responsible. The answer will be published in the Official Journal of the European Union and in the Parliament website.
This is of relevance as, one hand, it proves that MEPs have an interest on the issue of the protection of health data, and, on the other, the Commission will have to provide information on how they plan to address this topic.
The Parliamentary Question is available here.
