Brussels, 06 June – During its latest plenary, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted the final version of its guidelines on Art.48 GDPR about data transfers to third country authorities, after public consultation. In addition, the Board presented two new Support Pool of Experts (SPE) projects providing training material on artificial intelligence and data protection. Finally, the Board discussed the European Commission’s request for a joint EDPB-EDPS opinion on the draft proposal on the simplification of record-keeping obligation under the GDPR.

Data transfers to third country authorities

Following public consultation, the EDPB has adopted the final version of the guidelines on data transfers to third country authorities. In its guidelines, the EDPB zooms in on Art. 48 GDPR and clarifies how organisations can best assess under which conditions they can lawfully respond to requests for a transfer of personal data from third country authorities (i.e. authorities from non-European countries).





The EDPB explains that judgements or decisions from third country authorities cannot automatically be recognised or enforced in Europe. As a general rule, an international agreement may provide for both a legal basis and a ground for transfer. In case there is no international agreement, or if the agreement does not provide for an appropriate legal basis or safeguards, other legal bases or other grounds for transfer could be considered, in exceptional circumstances and on a case by case basis.

The modifications introduced in the updated guidelines do not change their orientation, but they aim to provide further clarifications on different aspects that were brought up in the consultation. For example, the updated guidelines address the situation where the recipient of a request is a processor. In addition, they provide additional details regarding the situation where a mother company in a third country receives a request from that third country authority and then re

📌 EDPB publishes final version of guidelines on data transfers to third country authorities and SPE training material on AI and data protection (Jun)
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📍 Jun