Hundreds of millions of people now use the internet on a daily basis in many different ways: shopping, on-line banking, social network etc ... On the web they communicate an exponential amount of data, some of which is of an eminently personal nature. The dangers inherent to this are also growing and range widely from the unauthorised processing of data, to fraud and even to the manipulation of public opinion, which is endangering modern democracy. For all of these reasons, the protection of private life and personal data has become a European priority.
