Under the GDPR, there are, in principle, two main ways to transfer personal data to a non-EEA country or international organisation. Transfers may take place on the basis of an adequacy decision, or, in the absence of such a decision, on the basis of appropriate safeguards, including enforceable rights and legal remedies for individuals.

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• International transfers

Compliance with the GDPR is monitored by the national data protection authorities (DPAs). DPAs can conduct investigations and impose sanctions where necessary. DPAs have a number of tools at their disposal, including fines up to 20 M€ or 4% of the worldwide annual turnover whichever is higher, reprimands, and temporary or permanent processing bans.

You can find the contact details for all EEA DPAs on the EDPB website: Members

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• Data Protection Authority & you

Yes, you can, but the GDPR places certain obligations on businesses which share personal data. Your organisation must inform individuals that you will share their data with a third party. You must also inform them of your purposes, security, access and the retention measures that will apply.

1. Make sure that the data that you received was collected legitimately and that the individuals concerned have been informed about the processing of their personal data.
2. In case a third party is processing personal data on your behalf, make sure you have a controller-processor contract, which details the processing operations and means to process personal data.

And of course, comply with all the obligations of controllers.

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• Data controller or data processor

A personal data breach is a security breach leading to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data.

• If the data breach poses a risk to the individuals concerned, you must report it to the relevant data protection authority within 72 hours.
• If the breach is likely to result in a high risk to individuals, you will also need to communicate that breach to the individuals concerned without undue delay.

In any case, for all breaches – even those that are not notified to a DPA - you must record at least the basic details of the breach, the assessment thereof, its effects, and the steps taken in response.

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• Data breaches

Pseudonymisation consists in transforming personal data so that it can no longer be attributed to a specific individual without the use of additional information, provided that such additional information is kept separately and is subject to technical and organisational measures to ensure that the personal data are not attributed to individual. In practice, it may mean replacing personal data (name, first name, personal number, phone number, etc.) in a data set with indirectly identifying data (alias, sequential number, etc.). Pseudonymised data is still personal data and is subject to the GDPR.

Anonymised data is data that has been rendered anonymous in such a manner that the individual is not or no longer identifiable by any means that are reasonably likely to be used. When the anonymisation is implemented properly, the GDPR no longer applies to the anonymised data.

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• Secure personal data

   

The necessary security measures can differ based on the nature of the personal data you process and the associated risks to individuals. In any case, there are some minimum measures you should put into place:

• secure access to the premises;
• use regularly updated antivirus software;
• carefully choose your passwords;
• make users authenticate themselves before using the computer facilities;
• have a data back-up and retrieval policy in place in case of an incident.

In addition, some basic measures such as locking your screen while you are away and locking up the office at the end of the day are never out of place...

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• Secure personal data

No, you do not need to be certified to become a DPO.

DPOs must, however, be able to demonstrate that they have the necessary qualifications required by the GDPR, such as expert knowledge of data protection law and practices.

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• Data Protection Officer

   

DPOs can fulfil other tasks within the organisation, but this cannot result in a conflict of interest. This implies that the DPO cannot have a position in which they determine the purposes and means of the processing activities. Conflicting functions include mainly management positions (chief executive, chief operating, chief financial officer, Head of HR, Head of IT, managing director) but may also involve other functions if they lead to the determination of purposes and means of processing.

The DPO must be able to perform their duties and tasks in an independent manner. This means that your organisation:

• may not give instructions to the DPO with regard to the performance of their DPO duties;
• may not penalise or dismiss the DPO for performing their tasks.

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• Data Protection Officer

The DPO cannot be held responsible for failure to comply with the GDPR. Compliance with the GDPR is the responsibility of the organisation that appointed the DPO.

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• Data Protection Officer