What environmental sensing means for the scope of the right to private life

Environmental sensors measure and capture data about natural phenomena like gas, light and temperature. Traditionally core to scientific research and environmental governance, they have become strategic tools for climate action as they have advanced technologically. The European Union leverages data as a catalyst for the green transition policies of the European Green Deal (‘twin transition’). At the same time, the European Court of Human Rights recently recognised states’ positive obligations to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change for the effective protection of the right to private life. Whereas increasingly sophisticated environmental sensing, data capture and processing could be defended under Article 8, these systems could also be invasive of privacy. This paper explores and conceptualises these different relationships of the right to private life under Article 8 and how they apply to environmental sensing technologies. Building on this, the paper identifies potential ways in which the relationship between privacy and climate action could evolve further in the future.