People want to enter the EU for a variety of reasons and through different channels: reuniting with family, work, business or education but also to escape from political oppression or war. EU State authorities need to cooperate on border management to keep our borders secure. They also have a shared responsibility for treating asylum seekers equally throughout the EU. A number of information sharing mechanisms - which include the collection and the exchange of information on non EU citizens - are central to their cooperation on migration and asylum.
EDPS formal comments in response to the Commission public consultation on lowering the fingerprinting age for children in the visa procedure from 12 to 6 years old
The May 2017 edition of the EDPS Newsletter covers recently adopted Opinions on data protection and the EU institutions, digital content and the European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS), as well as many other EDPS activities.
The EDPS and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) are co-organising the 6th edition of the Data Protection Workshop within International Organizations, which will take place on 11–12 May at the IOM in Geneva.
This workshop, initiated by the EDPS over ten years ago, aims at bringing together International Organisations to:
Topics which will be covered at this year's workshop include cloud computing, processing of health data, the role of the Data Protection Officer, and data transfers to International Organisations under the GDPR.
Video of the event can be found here.
The new EU data protection framework consists of much more than just the GDPR. New rules for the EU institutions and ePrivacy are yet to be finalised, and remain a key focal point for EDPS work. As well as providing advice to the legislator on these new rules, the EDPS has started working with the EU institutions and bodies to prepare them for the changes to come. A particular focus of his efforts in 2016 was on promoting accountability, a central pillar of the GDPR which it is safe to assume will also be integrated into the new rules for EU institutions and bodies.
In 2016, the EDPS also made a considerable effort to help move the global debate on data protection and privacy forward and mainstream data protection into international policies. He advised the EU legislator on the Umbrella agreement and the Privacy Shield and engaged with data protection and privacy commissioners from every continent. He also continued to pursue new initiatives, such as the Ethics Advisory Group, through which he intends to stimulate global debate on the ethical dimension of data protection in the digital era.
The EDPS aims to make data protection as simple and effective as possible for all involved. This requires ensuring that EU policy both reflects the realities of data protection in the digital era and encourages compliance through accountability.
EDPS Opinion on the new legal basis of the Schengen Information System