ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the provisions of Directive 95/46/EC with the use of personal data for medical research centrally in mind. The Directive makes no specific mention of medical research and, consequently, it contains no provisions for medical research as an explicitly delineated category. The purpose of Directive 95/46/EC is to enable the free flow of personal data from one European Union (EU) Member State to another for the purposes of the internal market. The Directive defines personal data as any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, and this includes 'sound and image data relating to natural persons'. Member States have a degree of discretion as to the conditions of lawful processing under national law. Implementation may be by means of a general law or different laws for different types or 'sectors' of processing.
