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Privacy in the EU Institutions

Regulation (EU) 2018/1725 lays down the data protection obligations for the EU institutions, bodies and agencies when they process personal data and develop new policies. This regulation also defines the obligations of the EDPS, including his role as an independent supervisory authority of EU institutions and bodies when they process personal data, and to advise on policies and legislation which affect privacy and cooperate with similar authorities to ensure consistent data protection.

 

 

 

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23
Jul
2007
Opinions Prior Check and Prior Consultations

Election observation roster - Commission

Opinion of 23 July 2007 on a notification for prior checking on the EUROPA Election Observation Roster (Case 2007-244)

The observation of elections is an important component of the EU's policy in promoting human rights and democratisation throughout the world. To accomplish this, the European Commission recruits Election Observers via the Europa website.
 
Candidates are invited to enter their curriculum vitae into the electronic form provided. After screening the CVs of their own nationals, Member State governments will propose the most qualified candidates for the position of Long-Term or Short-Term Observer in individual European Union Election Observation Missions. The final selection of observers will be made by the Commission. Core Team experts are directly recruited by the Commission.
 
In his Opinion the EDPS has recommended various actions in order to ensure that the data processing fully complies with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001.  In particular, among others, the EDPS has made recommendations in relation to contracts with third parties who run the Electoral Observation Missions for the Commission in relation to the processing of personal data of observers. In addition the EDPS recommended that any communication with the candidates’ referees should be recorded on the Roster and further recommendations were made in relation to the information the Commission provides to the candidate.
Available languages: English, French
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Privacy in the EU Institutions
Recruitment
18
Jul
2007
Opinions Prior Check and Prior Consultations

Silent monitoring - OHIM

Opinion of 18 July 2007 on a notification for prior checking on silent monitoring (Case 2007-128)

The processing operations consist in the selective monitoring of incoming phone calls processed by the Information Centre Sector. Incoming phone calls are firstly caught by the Switchboard of OHIM. Depending on the subject of the call, the Switchboard puts the call through either to a specific person in OHIM or to the Information Centre, which is competent to address general issues or further put the call through to a specific person in OHIM.
 
During a “Silent Monitoring” exercise, incoming callers are firstly asked for their prior consent to participate in the monitoring exercise. Upon their consent, a third party, namely the responsible person in the Information Centre Sector, is silently listening to the conversation. While a call is monitored, a background signal is continuously emitted so that both the caller and the Switchboard or Information Centre are aware that the call is monitored by a third person. The call is not further monitored when it is put through to a specific person in OHIM. 

Therefore, the purposes of the processing operations referred to in the present notification for prior check, are to assess the quality of the service provided by the Switchboard and by the Information Centre as follows:

  • Switchboard: Quality control and improvement of services in compliance with the Service Level Agreement concluded with the external provider (contractor).
  • Information Centre: Quality control, improvement of services, staff appraisal.  

The EDPS has issued an opinion on this procedure which concludes that on a general basis the procedure complies with the principles established in the data protection regulation. However, the EDPS did make some recommendations mainly as concerns avoidance of the use of Article 5(c) of the Regulation as the basis for lawfulness regarding the processing operation conducted vis-à-vis the Switchboard. On the contrary, Article 5(a) of the Regulation has to be used in this regard. Furthermore, a method to guarantee the accuracy of the data should be found. This could be done either by recording the monitored calls or by sharing with the data subject the results of the monitoring in an immediate manner (e.g. after each day of the monitoring exercise), in such a way that the results are documented and discussed as soon as possible after the listening.

Available languages: English
Topics
Privacy in the EU Institutions
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