Data Protection Day (or Data Privacy Day outside of Europe) is an annual celebration established in 2006 by the Council of Europe. On 28 January 1981, Convention 108 was adopted, the first legally binding international instrument on data protection. Now celebrated globally, the purpose of this observance is to raise awareness and promote privacy and data protection best practices. 

Governments, national data protection bodies, and EU institutions conduct activities to raise awareness about the right to personal data protection and privacy. These may include campaigns targeting the general public, educational projects for teachers and students, open doors at data protection agencies, and conferences. 

For over 40 years, Convention 108 has influenced and shaped the protection of privacy and of data protection in Europe and beyond. More recently, in 2018, the signatories of the original Convention agreed on updating it – thus creating Convention 108+ – and, in the same year, the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) became the single regulatory framework for the handling of personal data throughout the European Economic Area. 

Watch the message from European Data Protection Supervisor Wojciech Wiewiórowski for Data Protection Week 2022.  

With Safer Internet Day coming up on Tuesday, 8 February 2022, data protection is once again highlighted as a key challenge in making the internet a safer and better place for all, and especially for children and young people. In an increasingly connected world, where data protection has become a necessity to ensure the respect of basic rights in digital environments, Safer Internet Day aims, each year, to raise awareness of emerging online issues and current concerns, from cyberbullying to social networking to digital identity. This year’s edition’s theme is “Together for a better internet”. 

Discover more about the actions of European Safer Internet Centres, global Safer Internet Day Committees, and a range of organisational and industry supporters to celebrate SID worldwide, in approximately 200 countries and territories on the Safer Internet Day website. 

Follow the celebrations for Data Protection Day on social media using the #DataPrivacyDay and #DataProtectionDay hashtags. 

Learn more about Data Protection Day on the website of the Council of Europe.