Privacy and personal data - legal authorisation for the processing of personal data under the prescription regulations for psychotropic and narcotic substances in Portugal

We cannot speak of personal data, health data and personal health data without first talking about
privacy. Privacy as a fundamental right has only recently come into existence within European
legal systems, a result of the contemporary information society, which has put the lack of intimacy
and privacy of its citizens onto the agenda. One way to protect privacy is through personal data
protection (including health) legislation. This legislation prohibits the processing of personal health
data. This is not, however, an absolute principle as there are exceptions. Processing sensitive or
very personal data as is the case with personal health data is possible provided that it has the
consent of the data subject or there is legal authorisation to do so. The latter eventuality
includes the case of the psychotropic and narcotic substance regulations, as will be seen later.