Parliamentary Diplomacy and Personal Data Protection in the Digital Age: An Unexplored Opportunity for Upholding Human Rights in the European Union and Beyond?

The chapter explores the role of the European Parliament in upholding the right to privacy and personal data protection in the EU and its relations with the wider world, by tracing dialogue and cooperation in this realm at the interparliamentary level in practice. Drawing from the work and outcomes of the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly over the last decade (2013-2023), the chapter shows how parliaments can play a relevant role in promoting these rights in the digital age not only domestically, but also internationally through parliamentary diplomacy. By doing so, the chapter also advances the existing literature on this field, introducing a fined-grained examination of a topic that has been largely overlooked. This holds particularly true concerning the studies addressing parliamentary diplomatic activity in the framework of the EU-Latin America and the Caribbean relations.