Reinier Russell

managing partner

Reinier advises national and international companies

reinier.russell@russell.nl
+31 20 301 55 55

Privacy: New European Data Protection Regulation

Publication date 28 May 2015

In this newsletter Russell Advocaten will inform you, in short, about the most important changes to be expected in the European data protection regulations. More detailed information on this topic can be found in our previous newsletters.

persoonsgegevens - ubo

Fines

The new Regulation will introduce extremely severe sanctions on (repeated) breaches of privacy of EU citizens. Currently, for instance, the Dutch Data Protection Agency (CBP) can impose a fine of a maximum of EUR 4,500. The new fines can be up to a maximum of EUR 100,000,000 or 5% of the global annual turnover, depending on which amount is higher.

Data protection officer

The following businesses and organizations will have to appoint an independent data protection officer:

  • businesses with more than 250 employees
  • companies processing data of more than 5000 persons within a period of 12 months
  • government authorities, public bodies

The main tasks of the data protection officer include monitoring of the general quality of the data protection policy of a company and controlling whether the data processing is in accordance with the laws and regulations.

Reporting a data leak

If your business is affected by a data leak, you will have to report it within 24 hours and without delay to the competent Data Protection Agency and potential persons concerned. Violations of the notification requirement will be fined up to a maximum of EUR 1,000,000 or 2% of the global annual turnover of the business.

The “right to be forgotten”

Consumers will be given the right that companies and institutions will take care to delete their data and prevent further spread of the data, if:

  • there is no longer reason to store the processed data for the purpose they used to be collected or processed for
  • the person in question withdraws his/her consent, and/or when the period allowed for data storage has passed
  • the person in question lodges a complaint against the processing of personal data
  • the company or institution does not comply with the other provisions of the Regulation

More information

Would you like to know more about the new European Data Protection Regulation or do you have any other questions about how to organize your business with regard to the new European Data Protection Regulation? Please contact:

    We process the personal data above with your permission. You can withdraw your permission at any time. For more information please see our Privacy Statement.

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