The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) has adopted the narrowest possible interpretation of ‘contractual necessity’ as a ground for processing of personal data. The Guidelines 2/2019 on the processing of personal data under Article 6(1)(b) GDPR in the context of the provision of online services to data subjects (adopted on April 9, 2019 and open for consultation until May 24, 2019) provide a detailed assessment of the regulator’s interpretation of the law.…

On 12 March 2019 at its Eighth Plenary Session, the European Data Protection Board (“EDPB”) adopted its Opinion 5/2019 on the interplay between the ePrivacy Directive (“ePD”) and the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”). The Belgian Data Protection Authority had, on 3 December 2018, requested that the EDPB examine the overlap between the two laws and in particular the competence, tasks, and powers of data protection authorities (“DPAs”). The EDPB adopted its Opinion in…

“There is a cliff, whose high and bending head looks fearfully in the confined deep. Bring me but to the very brim of it” says the blinded Earl of Gloucester in Shakespeare’s King Lear, thinking that he is at the edge of the famous white cliffs of Dover. Right now, the whole of the UK appears to be on the same spot looking over a precipice. However, this is not the moment to be blind. As…

Amid the constitutional and political uncertainties surrounding the Brexit process, the UK Government has provided welcome assurance on the data protection front. Guidance issued by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) confirms how UK data protection law will work in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal. Whilst the Government still regards a No Deal Brexit as “unlikely”, given the extremely severe implications of that scenario for transfers of…

The EU General Data Protection Regulation is now a fully functioning six-month old creature, which has brought with it significant evolutionary changes. One of the most notable innovations of the new European data protection framework is its ambitious extra-territorial application. The introduction of brand new grounds for the applicability of the law was a major development. As a result, and as essential as this is, the GDPR’s territorial scope of application has become one of…

The draft text of the EU-UK withdrawal agreement was published by the UK Government and the European Union yesterday, providing some of the first concrete indicators of the possible direction of travel in the area of data protection. Analysis of the text has barely started, but some of our initial conclusions are outlined below.…