interactive GDPR 2016/0679 EN

whereas submitted:

• whereas (94) 1

definitions:

• personal data
• processing
• restriction of processing
• profiling
• pseudonymisation
• filing system
• controller
• processor
• recipient
• third party
• consent
• personal data breach
• genetic data
• biometric data
• data concerning health
• main establishment
• representative
• enterprise
• group of undertakings
• binding corporate rules
• supervisory authority
• supervisory authority concerned
• cross-border processing
• relevant and reasoned objection
• information society service
• international organisation

Article 40

Codes of conduct

1.   The Member States, the supervisory authorities, the Board and the Commission shall encourage the drawing up of codes of conduct intended to contribute to the proper application of this Regulation, taking account of the specific features of the various processing sectors and the specific needs of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

2.   Associations and other bodies representing categories of controllers or processors may prepare codes of conduct, or amend or extend such codes, for the purpose of specifying the application of this Regulation, such as with regard to:

(a)	fair and transparent processing;

(b)	the legitimate interests pursued by controllers in specific contexts;

(c)	the collection of personal_data;

(d)	the pseudonymisation of personal_data;

(e)	the information provided to the public and to data subjects;

(f)	the exercise of the rights of data subjects;

(g)	the information provided to, and the protection of, children, and the manner in which the consent of the holders of parental responsibility over children is to be obtained;

(h)	the measures and procedures referred to in Articles 24 and 25 and the measures to ensure security of processing referred to in Article 32;

(i)	the notification of personal_data breaches to supervisory authorities and the communication of such personal_data breaches to data subjects;

(j)	the transfer of personal_data to third countries or international_organisations; or

(k)	out-of-court proceedings and other dispute resolution procedures for resolving disputes between controllers and data subjects with regard to processing, without prejudice to the rights of data subjects pursuant to Articles 77 and 79.

3.   In addition to adherence by controllers or processors subject to this Regulation, codes of conduct approved pursuant to paragraph 5 of this Article and having general validity pursuant to paragraph 9 of this Article may also be adhered to by controllers or processors that are not subject to this Regulation pursuant to Article 3 in order to provide appropriate safeguards within the framework of personal_data transfers to third countries or international_organisations under the terms referred to in point (e) of Article 46(2). Such controllers or processors shall make binding and enforceable commitments, via contractual or other legally binding instruments, to apply those appropriate safeguards including with regard to the rights of data subjects.

4.   A code of conduct referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article shall contain mechanisms which enable the body referred to in Article 41(1) to carry out the mandatory monitoring of compliance with its provisions by the controllers or processors which undertake to apply it, without prejudice to the tasks and powers of supervisory authorities competent pursuant to Article 55 or 56.

5.   Associations and other bodies referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article which intend to prepare a code of conduct or to amend or extend an existing code shall submit the draft code, amendment or extension to the supervisory_authority which is competent pursuant to Article 55. The supervisory_authority shall provide an opinion on whether the draft code, amendment or extension complies with this Regulation and shall approve that draft code, amendment or extension if it finds that it provides sufficient appropriate safeguards.

6.   Where the draft code, or amendment or extension is approved in accordance with paragraph 5, and where the code of conduct concerned does not relate to processing activities in several Member States, the supervisory_authority shall register and publish the code.

7.   Where a draft code of conduct relates to processing activities in several Member States, the supervisory_authority which is competent pursuant to Article 55 shall, before approving the draft code, amendment or extension, submit it in the procedure referred to in Article 63 to the Board which shall provide an opinion on whether the draft code, amendment or extension complies with this Regulation or, in the situation referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, provides appropriate safeguards.

8.   Where the opinion referred to in paragraph 7 confirms that the draft code, amendment or extension complies with this Regulation, or, in the situation referred to in paragraph 3, provides appropriate safeguards, the Board shall submit its opinion to the Commission.

9.   The Commission may, by way of implementing acts, decide that the approved code of conduct, amendment or extension submitted to it pursuant to paragraph 8 of this Article have general validity within the Union. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure set out in Article 93(2).

10.   The Commission shall ensure appropriate publicity for the approved codes which have been decided as having general validity in accordance with paragraph 9.

11.   The Board shall collate all approved codes of conduct, amendments and extensions in a register and shall make them publicly available by way of appropriate means.

Article 60

Cooperation between the lead supervisory_authority and the other supervisory authorities concerned

1.   The lead supervisory_authority shall cooperate with the other supervisory authorities concerned in accordance with this Article in an endeavour to reach consensus. The lead supervisory_authority and the supervisory authorities concerned shall exchange all relevant information with each other.

2.   The lead supervisory_authority may request at any time other supervisory authorities concerned to provide mutual assistance pursuant to Article 61 and may conduct joint operations pursuant to Article 62, in particular for carrying out investigations or for monitoring the implementation of a measure concerning a controller or processor established in another Member State.

3.   The lead supervisory_authority shall, without delay, communicate the relevant information on the matter to the other supervisory authorities concerned. It shall without delay submit a draft decision to the other supervisory authorities concerned for their opinion and take due account of their views.

4.   Where any of the other supervisory authorities concerned within a period of four weeks after having been consulted in accordance with paragraph 3 of this Article, expresses a relevant_and_reasoned_objection to the draft decision, the lead supervisory_authority shall, if it does not follow the relevant_and_reasoned_objection or is of the opinion that the objection is not relevant or reasoned, submit the matter to the consistency mechanism referred to in Article 63.

5.   Where the lead supervisory_authority intends to follow the relevant_and_reasoned_objection made, it shall submit to the other supervisory authorities concerned a revised draft decision for their opinion. That revised draft decision shall be subject to the procedure referred to in paragraph 4 within a period of two weeks.

6.   Where none of the other supervisory authorities concerned has objected to the draft decision submitted by the lead supervisory_authority within the period referred to in paragraphs 4 and 5, the lead supervisory_authority and the supervisory authorities concerned shall be deemed to be in agreement with that draft decision and shall be bound by it.

7.   The lead supervisory_authority shall adopt and notify the decision to the main_establishment or single establishment of the controller or processor, as the case may be and inform the other supervisory authorities concerned and the Board of the decision in question, including a summary of the relevant facts and grounds. The supervisory_authority with which a complaint has been lodged shall inform the complainant on the decision.

8.   By derogation from paragraph 7, where a complaint is dismissed or rejected, the supervisory_authority with which the complaint was lodged shall adopt the decision and notify it to the complainant and shall inform the controller thereof.

9.   Where the lead supervisory_authority and the supervisory authorities concerned agree to dismiss or reject parts of a complaint and to act on other parts of that complaint, a separate decision shall be adopted for each of those parts of the matter. The lead supervisory_authority shall adopt the decision for the part concerning actions in relation to the controller, shall notify it to the main_establishment or single establishment of the controller or processor on the territory of its Member State and shall inform the complainant thereof, while the supervisory_authority of the complainant shall adopt the decision for the part concerning dismissal or rejection of that complaint, and shall notify it to that complainant and shall inform the controller or processor thereof.

10.   After being notified of the decision of the lead supervisory_authority pursuant to paragraphs 7 and 9, the controller or processor shall take the necessary measures to ensure compliance with the decision as regards processing activities in the context of all its establishments in the Union. The controller or processor shall notify the measures taken for complying with the decision to the lead supervisory_authority, which shall inform the other supervisory authorities concerned.

11.   Where, in exceptional circumstances, a supervisory_authority concerned has reasons to consider that there is an urgent need to act in order to protect the interests of data subjects, the urgency procedure referred to in Article 66 shall apply.

12.   The lead supervisory_authority and the other supervisory authorities concerned shall supply the information required under this Article to each other by electronic means, using a standardised format.

Article 64

Opinion of the Board

1.   The Board shall issue an opinion where a competent supervisory_authority intends to adopt any of the measures below. To that end, the competent supervisory_authority shall communicate the draft decision to the Board, when it:

(a)	aims to adopt a list of the processing operations subject to the requirement for a data protection impact assessment pursuant to Article 35(4);

(b)	concerns a matter pursuant to Article 40(7) whether a draft code of conduct or an amendment or extension to a code of conduct complies with this Regulation;

(c)	aims to approve the criteria for accreditation of a body pursuant to Article 41(3) or a certification body pursuant to Article 43(3);

(d)	aims to determine standard data protection clauses referred to in point (d) of Article 46(2) and in Article 28(8);

(e)	aims to authorise contractual clauses referred to in point (a) of Article 46(3); or

(f)	aims to approve binding_corporate_rules within the meaning of Article 47.

2.   Any supervisory_authority, the Chair of the Board or the Commission may request that any matter of general application or producing effects in more than one Member State be examined by the Board with a view to obtaining an opinion, in particular where a competent supervisory_authority does not comply with the obligations for mutual assistance in accordance with Article 61 or for joint operations in accordance with Article 62.

3.   In the cases referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, the Board shall issue an opinion on the matter submitted to it provided that it has not already issued an opinion on the same matter. That opinion shall be adopted within eight weeks by simple majority of the members of the Board. That period may be extended by a further six weeks, taking into account the complexity of the subject matter. Regarding the draft decision referred to in paragraph 1 circulated to the members of the Board in accordance with paragraph 5, a member which has not objected within a reasonable period indicated by the Chair, shall be deemed to be in agreement with the draft decision.

4.   Supervisory authorities and the Commission shall, without undue delay, communicate by electronic means to the Board, using a standardised format any relevant information, including as the case may be a summary of the facts, the draft decision, the grounds which make the enactment of such measure necessary, and the views of other supervisory authorities concerned.

5.   The Chair of the Board shall, without undue, delay inform by electronic means:

(a)	the members of the Board and the Commission of any relevant information which has been communicated to it using a standardised format. The secretariat of the Board shall, where necessary, provide translations of relevant information; and

(b)	the supervisory_authority referred to, as the case may be, in paragraphs 1 and 2, and the Commission of the opinion and make it public.

6.   The competent supervisory_authority shall not adopt its draft decision referred to in paragraph 1 within the period referred to in paragraph 3.

7.   The supervisory_authority referred to in paragraph 1 shall take utmost account of the opinion of the Board and shall, within two weeks after receiving the opinion, communicate to the Chair of the Board by electronic means whether it will maintain or amend its draft decision and, if any, the amended draft decision, using a standardised format.

8.   Where the supervisory_authority concerned informs the Chair of the Board within the period referred to in paragraph 7 of this Article that it does not intend to follow the opinion of the Board, in whole or in part, providing the relevant grounds, Article 65(1) shall apply.

Article 65

Dispute resolution by the Board

1.   In order to ensure the correct and consistent application of this Regulation in individual cases, the Board shall adopt a binding decision in the following cases:

(a)

where, in a case referred to in Article 60(4), a supervisory_authority concerned has raised a relevant_and_reasoned_objection to a draft decision of the lead authority or the lead authority has rejected such an objection as being not relevant or reasoned. The binding decision shall concern all the matters which are the subject of the relevant_and_reasoned_objection, in particular whether there is an infringement of this Regulation;

(b)	where there are conflicting views on which of the supervisory authorities concerned is competent for the main_establishment;

(c)

where a competent supervisory_authority does not request the opinion of the Board in the cases referred to in Article 64(1), or does not follow the opinion of the Board issued under Article 64. In that case, any supervisory_authority concerned or the Commission may communicate the matter to the Board.

2.   The decision referred to in paragraph 1 shall be adopted within one month from the referral of the subject-matter by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Board. That period may be extended by a further month on account of the complexity of the subject-matter. The decision referred to in paragraph 1 shall be reasoned and addressed to the lead supervisory_authority and all the supervisory authorities concerned and binding on them.

3.   Where the Board has been unable to adopt a decision within the periods referred to in paragraph 2, it shall adopt its decision within two weeks following the expiration of the second month referred to in paragraph 2 by a simple majority of the members of the Board. Where the members of the Board are split, the decision shall by adopted by the vote of its Chair.

4.   The supervisory authorities concerned shall not adopt a decision on the subject matter submitted to the Board under paragraph 1 during the periods referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3.

5.   The Chair of the Board shall notify, without undue delay, the decision referred to in paragraph 1 to the supervisory authorities concerned. It shall inform the Commission thereof. The decision shall be published on the website of the Board without delay after the supervisory_authority has notified the final decision referred to in paragraph 6.

6.   The lead supervisory_authority or, as the case may be, the supervisory_authority with which the complaint has been lodged shall adopt its final decision on the basis of the decision referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, without undue delay and at the latest by one month after the Board has notified its decision. The lead supervisory_authority or, as the case may be, the supervisory_authority with which the complaint has been lodged, shall inform the Board of the date when its final decision is notified respectively to the controller or the processor and to the data subject. The final decision of the supervisory authorities concerned shall be adopted under the terms of Article 60(7), (8) and (9). The final decision shall refer to the decision referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and shall specify that the decision referred to in that paragraph will be published on the website of the Board in accordance with paragraph 5 of this Article. The final decision shall attach the decision referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.

Article 70

Tasks of the Board

1.   The Board shall ensure the consistent application of this Regulation. To that end, the Board shall, on its own initiative or, where relevant, at the request of the Commission, in particular:

(a)	monitor and ensure the correct application of this Regulation in the cases provided for in Articles 64 and 65 without prejudice to the tasks of national supervisory authorities;

(b)	advise the Commission on any issue related to the protection of personal_data in the Union, including on any proposed amendment of this Regulation;

(c)	advise the Commission on the format and procedures for the exchange of information between controllers, processors and supervisory authorities for binding_corporate_rules;

(d)	issue guidelines, recommendations, and best practices on procedures for erasing links, copies or replications of personal_data from publicly available communication services as referred to in Article 17(2);

(e)	examine, on its own initiative, on request of one of its members or on request of the Commission, any question covering the application of this Regulation and issue guidelines, recommendations and best practices in order to encourage consistent application of this Regulation;

(f)	issue guidelines, recommendations and best practices in accordance with point (e) of this paragraph for further specifying the criteria and conditions for decisions based on profiling pursuant to Article 22(2);

(g)

issue guidelines, recommendations and best practices in accordance with point (e) of this paragraph for establishing the personal_data breaches and determining the undue delay referred to in Article 33(1) and (2) and for the particular circumstances in which a controller or a processor is required to notify the personal_data breach;

(h)	issue guidelines, recommendations and best practices in accordance with point (e) of this paragraph as to the circumstances in which a personal_data breach is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of the natural persons referred to in Article 34(1).

(i)

issue guidelines, recommendations and best practices in accordance with point (e) of this paragraph for the purpose of further specifying the criteria and requirements for personal_data transfers based on binding_corporate_rules adhered to by controllers and binding_corporate_rules adhered to by processors and on further necessary requirements to ensure the protection of personal_data of the data subjects concerned referred to in Article 47;

(j)	issue guidelines, recommendations and best practices in accordance with point (e) of this paragraph for the purpose of further specifying the criteria and requirements for the personal_data transfers on the basis of Article 49(1);

(k)	draw up guidelines for supervisory authorities concerning the application of measures referred to in Article 58(1), (2) and (3) and the setting of administrative fines pursuant to Article 83;

(l)	review the practical application of the guidelines, recommendations and best practices referred to in points (e) and (f);

(m)	issue guidelines, recommendations and best practices in accordance with point (e) of this paragraph for establishing common procedures for reporting by natural persons of infringements of this Regulation pursuant to Article 54(2);

(n)	encourage the drawing-up of codes of conduct and the establishment of data protection certification mechanisms and data protection seals and marks pursuant to Articles 40 and 42;

(o)	carry out the accreditation of certification bodies and its periodic review pursuant to Article 43 and maintain a public register of accredited bodies pursuant to Article 43(6) and of the accredited controllers or processors established in third countries pursuant to Article 42(7);

(p)	specify the requirements referred to in Article 43(3) with a view to the accreditation of certification bodies under Article 42;

(q)	provide the Commission with an opinion on the certification requirements referred to in Article 43(8);

(r)	provide the Commission with an opinion on the icons referred to in Article 12(7);

(s)

provide the Commission with an opinion for the assessment of the adequacy of the level of protection in a third country or international_organisation, including for the assessment whether a third country, a territory or one or more specified sectors within that third country, or an international_organisation no longer ensures an adequate level of protection. To that end, the Commission shall provide the Board with all necessary documentation, including correspondence with the government of the third country, with regard to that third country, territory or specified sector, or with the international_organisation.

(t)	issue opinions on draft decisions of supervisory authorities pursuant to the consistency mechanism referred to in Article 64(1), on matters submitted pursuant to Article 64(2) and to issue binding decisions pursuant to Article 65, including in cases referred to in Article 66;

(u)	promote the cooperation and the effective bilateral and multilateral exchange of information and best practices between the supervisory authorities;

(v)	promote common training programmes and facilitate personnel exchanges between the supervisory authorities and, where appropriate, with the supervisory authorities of third countries or with international_organisations;

(w)	promote the exchange of knowledge and documentation on data protection legislation and practice with data protection supervisory authorities worldwide.

(x)	issue opinions on codes of conduct drawn up at Union level pursuant to Article 40(9); and

(y)	maintain a publicly accessible electronic register of decisions taken by supervisory authorities and courts on issues handled in the consistency mechanism.

2.   Where the Commission requests advice from the Board, it may indicate a time limit, taking into account the urgency of the matter.

3.   The Board shall forward its opinions, guidelines, recommendations, and best practices to the Commission and to the committee referred to in Article 93 and make them public.

4.   The Board shall, where appropriate, consult interested parties and give them the opportunity to comment within a reasonable period. The Board shall, without prejudice to Article 76, make the results of the consultation procedure publicly available.

Article 76

Confidentiality

1.   The discussions of the Board shall be confidential where the Board deems it necessary, as provided for in its rules of procedure.

2.   Access to documents submitted to members of the Board, experts and representatives of third parties shall be governed by Regulation (EC) No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council (21).

CHAPTER VIII

Remedies, liability and penalties