Processing personal data does not stop at the border. Almost every organization has to deal with the transfer of personal data to other countries. To monitor the right to the protection of personal data, the Dutch privacy regulator Authority Persoonsgegevens (AP) works intensively within the European Union (EU) with various European partners. Both within the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and in standing committees for coordinated supervision of police, justice and border control.

European Data Protection Board

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB), the European Data Protection Board, is an independent European body composed of representatives of national privacy supervisors and the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS). The EDPB contributes to the consistent application of data protection rules in the EU and promotes cooperation among national privacy supervisors. (1) Among other things, the EDPB publishes opinions, decisions and guidelines explaining the General Data Protection Regulation (AVG). (2) The guidelines clarify various topics of the AVG through which the EDPB helps organizations on their way to be able to apply privacy legislation in practice.

One-stop-shop mechanism

In certain cross-border cases, the AP cooperates with other EU privacy regulators, for example, in the case of an investigation into an organization processing data in multiple member states. Previously, an organization could face multiple privacy regulators. However, the advent of the AVG and the one-stop mechanism (or "one-stop shop") has changed this. The lead for such an investigation lies with the supervisor of the country in which the organization in question is headquartered, also known as the lead supervisor authority. (3)

Europol and Eurojust

To combat terrorism, drug and human trafficking, fraud and cybercrime, there is increasing cooperation at the European level. EU member states hereby exchange personal data on which there is independent supervision for processing. For example, the AP participates on behalf of the Netherlands in the supervision of the European Police Office (Europol) and the European body for judicial cooperation (Eurojust), whose task is to combat serious forms of cross-border crime in the EU. (4)

European Information Systems

Governments across the EU exchange information to secure the borders of the Schengen area. The exchange of this data by police and judicial authorities takes place between several large-scale information systems. (5)

• Schengen Information System II (SIS II): information on alerts within the Schengen area, such as data on wanted or missing persons or stolen vehicles;

• Eurodac: fingerprints of persons seeking asylum in an EU member state;

• Visa Information System (VIS): data for visa issuance;

• Customs Information System (CIS): data for customs enforcement. (6)

The AP also participates in oversight of these European information systems on behalf of the Netherlands.

Footnotes

(1) https://edpb.europa.eu/about-edpb/about-edpb/who-we-are_nl
(2) https://autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl/nl/zelf-doen/avg-guidelines
(3) https://autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl/nl/onderwerpen/avg-europese-privacywetgeving/een-loketmechanisme-onestopshop
(4) https://autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl/nl/onderwerpen/politie-justitie/europol-en-eurojust
(5) https://schengenvisum.info/eu-informatiesystemen-voor-schengenvisa/
(6) https://autoriteitpersoonsgegevens.nl/nl/onderwerpen/politie-justitie/europol-en-eurojust