Final answer:
Article 8 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights provides explicit protection for personal data, ensuring fairness in processing and the right to access and rectify the data, with oversight by an independent authority.
Step-by-step explanation:
Article 8 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights specifically addresses the protection of personal data. It ensures that everyone has the right to the protection of their personal data and such data must be processed fairly, for specified purposes and on the basis of the consent of the person concerned or another legitimate basis laid down by law. Every person has the right to access the data which has been collected concerning him or her, and to have it rectified. Compliance with these rules shall be subject to control by an independent authority. Thus, through Article 8, the EU embodies a commitment to protect individual personal data, mirroring the emphasis on privacy seen in numerous international human rights documents.
Article 8 is a reflection of the value placed on individual privacy in the EU, consistent with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which also articulates the right to privacy in Article 12. The EU's dedication to human rights is further echoed in its outlawing of the death penalty and commitment to non-discrimination, freedom of expression, cultural heritage, and equality of the sexes.