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Western European Initiatives

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Handbook of Personal Data Protection

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Abstract

Present Western European concepts on data protection are a direct result of experiences arising from World War II. The general tendencies of the former Fascist and Nazi governments to amass great amounts of personal details on both its citizens and its vanquished subjects, have led to a current sensitivity of Western Europeans to government and private entities maintaining personal information without the knowledge or consent of data subjects. To understand this unique concern, a brief recollection of the events before and during the Nazi era in Europe is required.

’If everybody minded their own business,’ said the Duchess in a hoarse growl, ’the world would go round a deal faster than it does.’

— Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

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Authors
  1. Wayne Madsen
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Copyright information

© 1992 Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited

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Madsen, W. (1992). Western European Initiatives. In: Handbook of Personal Data Protection. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-12806-8_3

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