The Data Protection Officer professional profile
Data protection officers carry great responsibility. They support companies and authorities on their road to digitisation. In this respect they must observe both the basic right to protection of personal data and the needs and development of companies and administrations.
Data protection officers will therefore ensure that no laws are violated and also offer technical expertise and experience to ensure that optimal processes are deployed for safe solutions and the success of all involved.
Data protection officers therefore bring both aspects to bear to decisively contribute to the credibility of companies and administrations. Effective data protection will engender confidence in customers and partners, protect company values and strengthen brands. Data protection will thereby offer important competitive advantages.
These challenges will not be overcome unless the data protection officer has excellent qualifications. Their specialist know-how will include specifically
- Processes and organisation
- IT systems and applications
- Data protection legislation
The BvD is developing concrete demands on the activities and know-how of data protection officers, to bring to bear on the professional profile of the data protection officer. Our members bind themselves to this professional profile and will therefore offer highly qualified specialist consultation.
The BvD will regularly adapt the professional profile to reflect current legal and technical developments. This fourth edition integrates the new requirements of the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) into the qualifications of data protection officers.
Expert opinion on the role of the data protection officer according to DSGVO
The BvD has for some time been dealing with the development of Data Protection Officer functions under the GDPR. Many dates and discussions were scheduled in the course of developing the new regulation, in order to define the position and responsibilities of Data Protection Officers as clearly as possible.The numerous compromises in the GDPR still require considerable interpretation, which the new BDSG [Federal Data Protection Act]addresses to a limited extent only. The BvD Board has therefore developed a questionnaire to address the essential issues and primary need for Data Protection Officer information – in particular to clarify widely discussed issues of liability.
This questionnaire served as the basis for the expert opinion by Derra, Meyer & Partner.Specialists in the fields of labour, criminal and liability law examined these issues and attempted to summarise and also develop the key statements. The BvD Board closely accompanied the expert opinion to allow fast clarification of questions on operational practice. New questions and issues requiring further investigation nevertheless arose in the course of the work. These will be on the agenda for further discussion and clarification by the Professional Profile Committee in particular and also by the Board. We shall provide further information on this.