[ParlTrack]

Draft opinion
Paragraph 1

1. Underlines that blockchain represents a new paradigm of data storage and management, the rise of which poses challenges in terms of data protection and transparency, and exponentially increases the risks of money laundering, the capture of the financial system by organised crime and the financing of terrorism;deleted

2018/09/25
Committee: LIBE

Romeo FRANZ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 2

2. Points out the need to ensure that the use and implementation of blockchain technologies fully respect fundamental rights, in accordance with the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU);deleted

2018/09/25
Committee: LIBE

Romeo FRANZ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3

3. Underlines that, if adequately designed, blockchains can ~~share the goal of the General Data Protection Regulation by giving data subjects more control over his/her data~~be in line with the “data protection by design” provisions in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR); recalls, however, that the possible clash between the protection of fundamental rights and the promotion of innovation has to be addressed; notes that a wide range of applications can allow different levels of transparency, raising the need of compliance with the EU law; stresses also that personal data in a blockchain are normally not anonymous, which makes them personal data within the scope of the GDPR; insists on the need to further improve blockchains in order to make them fully compatible with Union law where they are used for processing personal data;

2018/09/25
Committee: LIBE

Romeo FRANZ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)

3a. Underlines that future blockchain applications should implement mechanisms that protect the person data and the privacy of users and ensure that data can be fully anonymous; calls on the Commission and the Member States to fund research and innovation, in particular academic research, on new blockchain technologies that are compatible with the GDPR and based on the principle of data protection by design, such as zk-SNARK (zero-knowledge Succinct Non-Interactive Arguments of Knowledge);

2018/09/25
Committee: LIBE

Romeo FRANZ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 b (new)

3b. Highlights that users of blockchains may at the same time be data controllers for the personal data that they upload onto the ledger, and data processors by virtue of storing the full copy of the ledger on their own computer;

2018/09/25
Committee: LIBE

Romeo FRANZ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 c (new)

3c. Notes that the immutable nature of some blockchain technologies is likely to be incompatible with the "right to erasure" set out in Article 17 of the GDPR, where the blockchain contains personal data;

2018/09/25
Committee: LIBE

Romeo FRANZ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 d (new)

3d. Notes with concern that the proliferation of copies of data in a blockchain is likely to be incompatible with the data minimisation principle set out in Article 5 of the GDPR, where the blockchain contains personal data;

2018/09/25
Committee: LIBE

Romeo FRANZ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 e (new)

3e. Calls on the European Data Protection Board and the European Data Protection Supervisor to issue guidelines and opinions on the compatibility of blockchain technologies with Union law;

2018/09/25
Committee: LIBE

Romeo FRANZ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 4

4. Notes with concern the lack of any reference to the serious implications, which might be positive, but could also be detrimental, of blockchain technology in relation to the fight against money laundering and to countering the financing of terrorism, if such technology is appropriated by organised crime;deleted

2018/09/25
Committee: LIBE

Romeo FRANZ

Draft opinion
Paragraph 5

5. Stresses the need to consider the implications, both positive and negative, of blockchain technology in view of the goals of Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing1 , which brings providers of exchange services between virtual and fiat currencies, as well as custodian wallet providers, within its scope; notes that this Directive extends the EU’s regulatory reach to prevent criminal organisations from exploiting the anonymity of virtual currency-based transactions, and to improve national regulators’ monitoring of the users of virtual currencies, for whom blockchain may be an enabling technology. _________________ 1deleted OJ L 156, 19.6.2018, p. 43.

2018/09/25
Committee: LIBE

10 Amendments of Romeo FRANZ related to 2018/2085(INI)

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