What if Europol’s data originated from a country with poor human rights standards?

Data received from countries lacking adequate human rights protections — such as Russia, Turkey, or certain Gulf states — raises specific concerns under Europol’s international cooperation framework. Europol must verify that incoming data meets EU standards before processing it. If data was obtained through torture, politically motivated prosecution, or without judicial oversight, it may be inherently unlawful to retain. The EDPS can order deletion where Europol failed to conduct proper source assessments. This argument is particularly strong when the originating country has documented patterns of abusing international law enforcement channels.