Giovanni Buttarelli
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Giovanni Buttarelli (24 June 1957 – 20 August 2019) was an Italian civil servant, who served as the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS). On 4 December 2014, he was appointed by a joint decision of the European Parliament and the Council. He was due to serve a five-year term in this position. Previously, he served as Assistant EDPS, from January 2009 until December 2014. He was also a member of the Italian judiciary with the rank of judge of the
Court of Cassation A court of cassation is a high-instance court that exists in some judicial systems. Courts of cassation do not re-examine the facts of a case; they only interpret the relevant law. In this, they are appellate courts of the highest instance. In ...
. Before joining the EDPS, Buttarelli worked as Secretary General of the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, the Italian Data Protection Authority, between 1997 and 2009.


Background

Giovanni Buttarelli was born in 1957 in
Frascati Frascati () is a city and in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in the Lazio region of central Italy. It is located south-east of Rome, on the Alban Hills close to the ancient city of Tusculum. Frascati is closely associated with science, ...
, a little town near
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
. He graduated “cum laude” from La Sapienza University in Rome in 1984, where he also worked as a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Law. Specifically, he worked with Prof. Franco Cordero on Criminal Procedure until 1990. He was appointed as a Professor at the Faculty of Law at Lumsa University in Rome, in 2005, where he lectured on the Protection of Personal data and
Fundamental Rights Fundamental rights are a group of rights that have been recognized by a high degree of protection from encroachment. These rights are specifically identified in a constitution, or have been found under due process of law. The United Nations' Susta ...
in Italy and Europe. In 1989, he was made a judge at the Tribunal of
Avezzano Avezzano ( ; ) is a city and comune in the Abruzzo region, province of L'Aquila, Italy. It is the second most populous municipality in the province and the sixth in the region. It is the main commercial, industrial and agricultural centre of the ...
. He was also appointed to the High Level Policy Panel of the European Project on "Public Perception of Security and Privacy: Assessing Knowledge, Collecting Evidence, Translating Research Into Action - PACT (285635)” by th
Peace Institute of Oslo
Along with 138 other national representatives, he signed the Italian Manifest for
Digital Agenda
in 2011. He was also a regular contributor to specialised books and journals, at both the European and national level and is the author of a significant number of papers.


Career


Legislation Department of the Italian Ministry of Justice (1989–1997)

From 1989 to 1997, Buttarelli was an advisor at the Legislation Department of the Italian Ministry of Justice. He cooperated with various ministers and contributed to drafting and following up many regulatory provisions, in particular concerning criminal law, criminal procedure and data protection. He was also a member of several inter-ministerial committees concerning, among other topics, immigration, racial discrimination, community fraud, de-criminalisation, tax reforms, computer crime laws, access to confidential records and the digitalisation of public administrative agencies. He is the author of Italian privacy law n. 675/96 on the processing of personal data.


Council of Europe (1990–2019)

In 1990, Buttarelli was appointed as a member of various Working Groups and Committees, such as the Convention 108 Consultative Committee, the Center for Just Peace and Democracy, the Group of Specialists on Access to Public Information and the Working Group on Data Protection in Police and Criminal Matters. As an expert appointed by the
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
, he drafted th
report
and the draft guidelines on video surveillance (2003) and the report and draft recommendation on the protection of personal data processed for employment purposes (2011–2013). He was also an adviser to the
Venice Commission The Venice Commission, officially European Commission for Democracy through Law, is an advisory body of the Council of Europe, composed of independent experts in the field of constitutional law. It was created in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin ...
on an Opinion on "Video surveillance and Personal Rights”. In addition, Buttarelli was a member of various Council Working Parties such as those negotiating Directives no. 95/46/EC (current EU data protection directive) an
97/66/EC
(on the protection of privacy in the telecommunications sector). He participated in the Art. 31 Committee of Directive n.95/46/EC until 1999 and he was member of the Working Party ex Article 29 set up by Directive 95/46/EC. In 1996, during the EU Italian Presidency period, he chaired the Working Group which drafted the common position on Directive no. 97/66/EC.


Italian Data Protection Authority and the European Data Protection Supervisor (1997–2019)

From 1997 to 2009, Buttarelli worked a
Secretary General
at the Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, the Italian Data Protection Authority. He was president of the Joint Supervisory Authority set up in pursuance of the
Schengen Agreement The Schengen Agreement ( , ) is a treaty which led to the creation of Europe's Schengen Area, in which internal border checks have largely been abolished. It was signed on 14 June 1985, near the town of Schengen, Luxembourg, by five of the t ...
in 2002–2003, after being its vice-president in 2000–2001. In 2011, he was elected chair of the CIS-Customs Supervision Coordination Group. In 2014, he succeeded Peter Hustinx in the role of European Data Protection Supervisor, afte
serving as Assistant Supervisor
for one mandate from 2009 to 2014.


Moscow Mechanism (2010–2017)

Upon designation of the Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs, he was included for six years in the
OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...
, (Organization for security and Co-operation in Europe) resource list of the Moscow Mechanism, including eminent persons experienced in the field of the human dimension, from whom an impartial performance of their functions may be expected, at disposal of the OSCE-ODIHR Office to contribute to the solution of specific problems concerning the respect of human rights and the human dimension.


Death

Buttarelli died on 20 August 2019, at the age of 62. His 'manifesto'
Privacy 2030: A New Vision for Europe
was published posthumously in November 2019. On his death, Apple CEO,
Tim Cook Timothy Donald Cook (born November 1, 1960) is an American business executive who is the current chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Cook had previously been the company's chief operating officer under its co-founder Steve Jobs. Cook joined ...
called Buttarelli "''a visionary who advanced the cause of privacy in Europe and around the world.''"


References


External links


Professor at faculty of Law
at LUMSA University in Rome

(in Italian)
Secretary General Garante per la protezione dei dati personali
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buttarelli, Giovanni 1957 births 2019 deaths People from Frascati Academic staff of the Libera Università Maria SS. Assunta