EDPB: Revising GDPR text now would be premature



The contribution of the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) to the evaluation of the GDPR stresses that the GDPR has been a success and largely works well. The EDPB emphasizes that the GDPR is a technologically neutral framework and fully applicable to emerging technologies. However, it acknowledges that the implementation of the GDPR has been challenging, especially for SMEs.

The DPAs state that they need more resources and that ‘the cooperation between data protection authorities will result in a common data protection culture and consistent monitoring practices’. However, there are challenges with the cooperation and consistency mechanism.

Germany’s Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, Professor Ulrich Kelber, commented on 19th February: “My colleagues and I consider large-scale changes to the GDPR to be premature. However, we see a need for improvements in practical implementation. This is particularly true in the area of cooperation between data protection supervisory authorities in cross-border proceedings. Differences in national administrative procedures must not affect the effectiveness of GDPR enforcement against companies that have committed data breaches.”

See the 45 page EDPB report, adopted on 18th February, including detailed information on the work of the DPAs.

Privacy Laws & Business has organised a one-day conference on German data protection developments, and interpretation of the law: Germany’s Data Protection Law: Trends, Opportunities & Conflicts, on 11 March in London.