Democracy

Who controls the data foot- and fingerprints that we all leave as we move through the world wide web? Based on unprecendeted access to the EU lawmaking process, DEMOCRACY chronicles the creation of a hotly contested EU regulation: the General Data Protection Regulation GDPR. It shows how EU parlamentarians grapple with the question: what is the right balance between commercial opportunities, and the protection of privacy in the digital world. *** If the neighbors look into our apartment, we quickly lower the blinds. On the World Wide Web, on the other hand, many people reveal just about everything about themselves. Big data is more than just our name, date of birth and place of residence. In the digital age, everything we ever do on the internet can be stored somewhere, forever: Every search engine use, every click on a video, every phone call, all our online orders, card payments, videos load -- every move can be registered. Our digital fingerprints are everywhere, unless we actively do something about it. This has been known at least since Edward Snowden's revelations. The world is in a data frenzy, and the most personal information has become a commodity. Some say: Data is the oil of the 21st century, and access to data equals money and power. How can we make sure that access to private data is regulated, and the right to privacy upheld? Director David Bernet opens the doors to an almost impenetrable world. For the first time in the history of the EU, Bernet's team documented how an EU regulation is being created.