External investigations - OLAF

Opinion of 4 October 2007 on five notifications for prior checking on external investigations (Cases 2007-47, 2007-48, 2007-49, 2007-50, 2007-72)

The European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) conducts external investigations outside the Community organs. Those investigations are performed for the purpose of detecting fraud or other irregular conduct of legal and natural persons affecting the financial interests of the European Communities. OLAF carries out on-the-spot inspections and checks on economic operators in the Member States and in third countries, and is empowered to request oral information, to ask any person for information and to make written requests for information. OLAF collects personal data of individuals during external investigations, uses those data for the assessment of the behaviour of the individual(s) concerned and further transfers or stores those data.

After analysing the data processing activities, the EDPS made a number of recommendations to OLAF.  These concern for example: ensuring the right of access and rectification as a main rule to data subjects, and that any restriction on those rights should meet a necessity test and be applied only on a case-by-case basis; respecting the confidentiality of whistleblowers and informants; drafting of standard letters/clauses with including the appropriate information to the data subjects.