ABSTRACT

The protection of personal data has become an extremely important issue in the digital age. Therefore, even actors such as the International Intergovernmental Organizations and Vatican City State have equipped themselves with their own regulatory apparatus to protect this fundamental right within their own legal system. After a first introductory part, in which the self-regulatory power of these two peculiar subjects of the international community will be justified by means of elements that consider the general theory of international law, the principles that inform the internal policies of the International Intergovernmental Organizations and the cornerstones of the new General Regulations on the Protection of Personal Data of Vatican City State will be explored in depth. It will be seen that they also contribute to consolidating a shared perception in the international community of the essential need to protect the identity of individuals, with appropriate systems of personal data protection, as the basis for the realization of a ‘society of dignity’.