Passage of the future Data Protection Act will strengthen planning certainty
Acceptance of Federal Council comments increases legal certainty
The Association of Data Protection Officers of Germany (BvD) welcomes the draft of the new Data Protection Act in the 2nd and 3rd reading, for discussion in the Bundestag on 27.04.2017. Data protection officers involved in consultation for companies and authorities on the future legal position urgently require promulgation of the law, said BvD Vice Chairman Rudi Kramer on Thursday in Berlin. The BvD therefore trusts that the legislative process will not be delayed, since the Federal Council’s suggestions have already been taken into consideration.
Fears remain, however, that some of the provisions may give rise to contract infringement proceedings by the EU Commission. “Legal uncertainties affecting employee data, change of purpose and the rights of affected persons would be disastrous should the EU Commission, data protection authority or consumer protection associations find the legality of the implementation of the provisions flawed”, said Kramer. For certainty in their preparations for the day the GDPR will enter into force on 25 May, 2018, authorities and companies will need certainty that the Federal Data Protection Act will be compliant with EU law.
The BvD also regrets that no solution has yet been found to ensure short-term common ground within Federal data protection authority responsibilities. “This will weaken the impact of the German data protection concept on the European level”, fears Kramer.
The BvD welcomes the stipulation that companies over a certain size will still need to appoint internal data protection officers. This would ensure qualified and legally conformant support of responsible companies and their order processors with the new GDPR responsibilities. This includes the development and implementation of new internal processes, the obligation to report violations of protection requirements, requirements for proof of compliance of documentation with statutory provisions, support with the assessment of the impact of data protection and technical cooperation with supervisory authorities.
Your BvD contact person:
Deputy Chairman of the Board Rudi Kramer, Budapester Straße 31, 10787 Berlin
Tel: 030 . 26 36 77 60, E-Mail: bvd-gs@bvdnet.de