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On June 21, 2021, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) published its finalized recommendations on measures that supplement transfer tools to ensure compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), where organizations transfer personal data from the European Economic Area (“EEA“) to a country outside the EEA (“third country”) (see here).  While the final version retains much of the language of the draft version released in November 2020 (see here), it includes several notable updates.…
Continue Reading EDPB Adopts Finalized Recommendations on Supplemental Transfer Tools to Ensure GDPR-Compliant Data Transfers

On April 21, 2020, the European Data Protection Board (“Board”) issued guidelines on the processing of personal data for scientific research related to COVID-19.  The Board indicates that the GDPR takes into account the needs of scientific research and should not be a barrier to conduct such research, while at the same time, it helps ensure respect for the fundamental rights of patients.
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Continue Reading European Data Protection Board Issues Guidelines on Processing Personal Data for Scientific Research Related to COVID-19

As we anticipated in a previous blog post, on April 22, 2020, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) issued new guidelines on the use of location data and contact tracing apps in the context of the present COVID-19 pandemic.

The EDPB’s new guidelines complement and build on similar guidance previously issued by the Board itself (see here, here and here), and by the European Commission (see our blog post here).

The EDPB’s close scrutiny over the use of mobile data and apps in the context of the ongoing public health crisis is unsurprising, as many EU Member States have launched—or are in the process of launching—contact tracing apps to fight the spread of the virus, and these initiatives are receiving great attention by data privacy authorities and the general public (see our blog post here).

The guidelines aim to clarify the data protection conditions and principles that should be followed when:

  • using location data to model the spread of the virus to assess the overall effectiveness of confinement measures; and
  • using contact tracing apps, which aim to notify individuals who may have been in close proximity to someone who is infected or confirmed as a carrier of the virus, in order to break the contamination chain as early as possible.

The EDPB stresses that EU data protection rules have been designed to be flexible and, as such, do not stand in the way of an efficient response to the pandemic.  However, it notes that governments and private actors should be mindful of a number of considerations when they use data-driven solutions in response to the COVID-19 outbreak.

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Continue Reading EDPB Issues New Guidance on the Use of Location Data and Contact Tracing in the Context of the COVID-19 Outbreak

On 8 April 2020, the European Commission adopted a recommendation on a common European Union toolbox for the use of technology and data to address the COVID-19 crisis (“Recommendation”).  The Recommendation responds to calls for a common EU approach to the use of mobile apps in combatting COVID-19—one that improves the efficacy of the technology while respecting citizens’ privacy rights.

The Recommendation has since been complemented by a separate Commission guidance paper on COVID-19 apps (“Guidance”) and release of a Common EU Toolbox for Member States (“Toolbox”) by the EU’s eHealth Network, a Commission-established body comprised of Member State authorities responsible for eHealth matters.   In addition, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”), which contributed to the Guidance, has published a letter to the Commission in response to the Guidance (“Letter”).

This blog will discuss the headline points contained within the Recommendation, Guidance, Toolbox, and Letter.  We will publish more detailed analyses of the Toolbox and Guidance in subsequent blogs.

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Continue Reading EU Commission Releases Guidance on COVID-19 Apps

On March 16, 2020, the Chair of the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”), Andrea Jelinek, issued a statement on the processing of personal data in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak.

The statement made clear that EU data protection law does not stand in the way of the adoption of measures to fight against the Coronavirus pandemic.  However, it stressed that controllers (including employers), as well as governments, should be mindful of a number considerations when adopting measures to fight the pandemic that involve the processing of personal data.

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Continue Reading EDPB Chair Issues Statement on Data Protection and COVID-19

On December 11, 2019, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) published the final text of the standard clauses adopted by the Danish Supervisory Authority (Datatilsynet, hereafter “Danish SA”) pursuant to Article 28(8) of the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).  The Danish clauses are now accessible on the EDPB’s register of decisions taken by Supervisory Authorities.  The Danish clauses serve as a standard data processing agreement that controllers and processors may choose to adopt to fulfill the requirements of Article 28(3) and (4) of the GDPR.  However, note that these SCCs are not standard data protection clauses under Article 46(2)(c) or (d) of the GDPR, and as such, cannot serve as a valid legal mechanism to transfer personal data outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”).
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Continue Reading EDPB Publishes Article 28 Standard Clauses Adopted by Danish Supervisory Authority

On July 10, 2019, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) and the European Data Protection Supervisor (“EDPS”) issued a joint assessment of the impact of the U.S. Clarifying Overseas Use of Data Act (“CLOUD Act”) on the legal framework for the protection of personal data in the EU.

The EDPB is an independent body composed of representatives from the EU Member States’ Supervisory Authorities for data protection, the national bodies enforcing EU data protection law, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).  The EDPS is a separate European body whose primary role is to ensure that European institutions respect data protection law.  Though separate bodies, the EDPB and EDPS (hereafter “the institutions”) work jointly on some matters.  Opinions issued by the institutions are not legally binding, but may be influential and are indicative of the stance of European privacy regulators regarding certain issues.

The institutions note that the extraterritorial effect of the CLOUD Act could result in service providers being “susceptible to facing a conflict of laws between US law and the GDPR and other applicable EU or national law of the Member States.”

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Continue Reading European Data Protection Board Issues Opinion on U.S. CLOUD Act

On July 12, 2019, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) and the European Data Protection Supervisor (“EDPS”) issued a joint opinion on the processing of patient data and the role of the European Commission within the eHealth Digital Service Infrastructure (“eHDSI”).

Background

The eHDSI system was established in the context of the eHealth Network.  The…

On June 20, 2019, Keith Krach was confirmed by the U.S. Senate to become the Trump administration’s first permanent Privacy Shield Ombudsperson at the State Department.  The role of the Privacy Shield Ombudsperson is to act as an additional redress avenue for all EU data subjects whose data is transferred from the EU or Switzerland…

On April 5, 2019, the association of German Supervisory Authorities for data protection (‘Datenschutzkonferenz’ or ‘DSK’) published a guideline regarding the applicability of the German Telemedia Act (‘TMG’) to telemedia services – including, for example, the use of website cookies for targeted advertising post-GDPR. The guideline aims to “clarify…