L'interesse pubblico come base giuridica e come finalità del trattamento dei dati personali

The paper deals with the issue of public interest as a legal basis for processing personal data. GDPR broadly defines the relevant public interests, allowing Member States to introduce national provisions to further specify the application, in compliance with the principle of proportionality and guaranteeing an equivalent standard of protection in all the Member States. The paper examines articles 2-ter, 2-sexies and 2-quinquiesdecies of Italian legislative decree n° 196, dated June 30, 2003, as amended by legislative decree n° 101, dated August 10, 2018. The new EU Regulation and the national legislation aim to ensure a coherent and high level of protection of personal data in the context of the digital economy: the protection of individuals coexists with the aim of removing obstacles to the movement of personal data within the European Union. The question of the effective application of the new regulation remains open: a significant market power has been acquired by Big Tech and abuses of dominance should be contrasted.