The EDPS and the Data Protection Officers (DPO) network of the EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies (EUIs) met for the second time this year on 6 December 2022, at the premises of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA), in Lisbon.
At the EDPS, we attach huge importance to these bi-annual meetings with the DPO network, as these allow us to enhance our cooperation, and to acknowledge the efficient and hard work of the DPOs of the EUIs over the years. In particular, we highly appreciate their efforts to persuade their management boards to invest in data protection and achieve real-life compliance.
DPOs in the EU and beyond might be curious about what we have discussed in Lisbon, so I hope you are not disappointed with my report.
Opening the 51st meeting of the EDPS-DPO network, our Supervisor, Wojciech Wiewiórowski, provided an overview of the most recent EDPS developments. He highlighted, in particular, the recent conference on data protection in the field of criminal justice in the EU, co-hosted by the EDPS, Eurojust and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Our newly appointed Head of the Technology and Privacy Unit (T&P), Luis Velasco, shared his approach on how to provide practical guidance to DPOs, and our Head of the Supervision and Enforcement Unit (S&E), Thomas Zerdick, gave a presentation on recent case law on data protection and updated DPOs on some important files. Both teams, S&E and T&P, work hand in hand to achieve impactful and practical results.
At the end of the morning, the EDPS and the DPO network dedicated some time to analyse practical case studies on individuals’ requests to access their personal data. Case studies based on real examples were presented to help DPOS in their day to-day work. These case studies allow DPOs to exchange experiences and good practices in smaller groups.
The afternoon session focused on upcoming updates on the EDPS Guidelines on how to notify personal data breaches to the EDPS. Once again, the workshop gave rise to fruitful discussions and extremely helpful feedback from DPOS so we can update our guidelines and, hopefully, continue improving the management of these notifications.
In my concluding remarks of the day, I thanked all EDPS colleagues and DPOs for their hard work and reiterated our commitment to support our DPOs and to make the EDPS-DPO network stronger, more helpful and resourceful for all parties involved.
I already look forward to our next meeting, which will take place in May 2023, in the premises of the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), in Alicante.
In the meantime, I take this opportunity, as well as on behalf of our Supervisor, to wish you all, dear colleagues and friends of the data protection community in the EUIs and beyond, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo.