DPO News

Some Member States governments (e.g. via Permanent Representations, Embassies or directly their Ministries of Foreign Affairs) request personal data (name, grade, contact information...) of their nationals working for the institutions, bodies and agencies. In doing so, some refer to a specific legal basis, others simply ask without giving further reasons. Following several consultations on this matter, the EDPS has compiled a small note explaining to MS governments how and for which purposes such requests can be made. Please feel free to use and forward this note if you receive such requests. It is meant to explain this matter to colleagues in the national administrations, so it repeats the relevant provisions of Regulation (EC) 45/2001.

Please note that while we initially had proposed to send a letter to all MS governments explaining the issue, in the end, we decided not to do so. The main reason was that only about ten MS seem to regularly ask for this information, so there seemed to be no need to point out this possibility to all the others.

Reply to the update of notification on the CDR at the European Commission - further use of an unsatisfactory CDR for blocking advancement in step – 2013 review of the Staff Regulations

The modification of the Staff Regulations may imply certain changes to existing administrative decisions or the adoption of new administrative rules.
In this regard we would like to remind you of our policy on consultations which provide that in principle it is the DPO who is to be involved in the revision of administrative decisions unless there is a novel or complex issue.

As for prior check notifications, we would like to use this occasion to remind you of the procedure for an update of an existing notification (preferably one clean version and a mark-up version indicating the changes). Such an update only needs to be made in case of a change with regard to the protection of personal data. There should also be a cover letter from the DPO describing the main changes.

As presented on the occasion of the last DPO meeting, the EDPS is currently considering options regarding the information to be provided to third parties mentioned in complaints (as a reminder, please see the illustration slide attached). Such information is important as it guarantees the fairness of the processing, a concept which is broader than the mere right of defence. It raises the issue of the concept of personal data, the definition of processing, the limits of Article 12 and the restrictions provided in Article 20. It is also very relevant for us in any complaint handling work – including the complaint handling work of your institution/body!

Please help us to find a "pragmatism by design" approach to the topic and signal your interest in participating in an EDPS Working Group on the issue to ute.kallenberger@edps.europa.eu

34th Meeting of the Data Protection Officers and the European Data Protection Supervisor – Brussels, 21-22 November 2013