Article 30 GDPR

← Article 30 - Records of processing activities →
Chapter 1: General provisions Article 1: Subject-matter and objectives Article 2: Material scope Article 3: Territorial scope Article 4: Definitions Chapter 2: Principles Article 5: Principles relating to processing of personal data Article 6: Lawfulness of processing Article 7: Conditions for consent Article 8: Conditions applicable to child’s consent in relation to information society services Article 9: Processing of special categories of personal data Article 10: Processing of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences Article 11: Processing which does not require identification Chapter 3: Rights of the data subject Article 12: Transparent information, communication and modalities for the exercise of the rights of the data subject Article 13: Information to be provided where personal data are collected from the data subject Article 14: Information to be provided where personal data have not been obtained from the data subject Article 15: Right of access by the data subject Article 16: Right to rectification Article 17: Right to erasure (‘right to be forgotten’) Article 18: Right to restriction of processing Article 19: Notification obligation regarding rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing Article 20: Right to data portability Article 21: Right to object Article 22: Automated individual decision-making, including profiling Article 23: Restrictions Chapter 4: Controller and processor Article 24: Responsibility of the controller Article 25: Data protection by design and by default Article 26: Joint controllers Article 27: Representatives of controllers or processors not established in the Union Article 28: Processor Article 29: Processing under the authority of the controller or processor Article 30: Records of processing activities Article 31: Cooperation with the supervisory authority Article 32: Security of processing Article 33: Notification of a personal data breach to the supervisory authority Article 34: Communication of a personal data breach to the data subject Article 35: Data protection impact assessment Article 36: Prior consultation Article 37: Designation of the data protection officer Article 38: Position of the data protection officer Article 39: Tasks of the data protection officer Article 40: Codes of conduct Article 41: Monitoring of approved codes of conduct Article 42: Certification Article 43: Certification bodies Chapter 5: Transfers of personal data Article 44: General principle for transfers Article 45: Transfers on the basis of an adequacy decision Article 46: Transfers subject to appropriate safeguards Article 47: Binding corporate rules Article 48: Transfers or disclosures not authorised by Union law Article 49: Derogations for specific situations Article 50: International cooperation for the protection of personal data Chapter 6: Supervisory authorities Article 51: Supervisory authority Article 52: Independence Article 53: General conditions for the members of the supervisory authority Article 54: Rules on the establishment of the supervisory authority Article 55: Competence Article 56: Competence of the lead supervisory authority Article 57: Tasks Article 58: Powers Article 59: Activity reports Chapter 7: Cooperation and consistency Article 60: Cooperation between the lead supervisory authority and the other supervisory authorities concerned Article 61: Mutual assistance Article 62: Joint operations of supervisory authorities Article 63: Consistency mechanism Article 64: Opinion of the Board Article 65: Dispute resolution by the Board Article 66: Urgency procedure Article 67: Exchange of information Article 68: European Data Protection Board Article 69: Independence Article 70: Tasks of the Board Article 71: Reports Article 72: Procedure Article 73: Chair Article 74: Tasks of the Chair Article 75: Secretariat Article 76: Confidentiality Chapter 8: Remedies, liability and penalties Article 77: Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority Article 78: Right to an effective judicial remedy against a supervisory authority Article 79: Right to an effective judicial remedy against a controller or processor Article 80: Representation of data subjects Article 81: Suspension of proceedings Article 82: Right to compensation and liability Article 83: General conditions for imposing administrative fines Article 84: Penalties Chapter 9: Specific processing situations Article 85: Processing and freedom of expression and information Article 86: Processing and public access to official documents Article 87: Processing of the national identification number Article 88: Processing in the context of employment Article 89: Safeguards and derogations relating to processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes Article 90: Obligations of secrecy Article 91: Existing data protection rules of churches and religious associations Chapter 10: Delegated and implementing acts Article 92: Exercise of the delegation Article 93: Committee procedure Chapter 11: Final provisions Article 94: Repeal of Directive 95: /46: /EC Article 95: Relationship with Directive 20: 02: /58: /EC Article 96: Relationship with previously concluded Agreements Article 97: Commission reports Article 98: Review of other Union legal acts on data protection Article 99: Entry into force and application

Legal Text

Article 30 - Records of processing activities

1. Each controller and, where applicable, the controller's representative, shall maintain a record of processing activities under its responsibility. That record shall contain all of the following information:

(a) the name and contact details of the controller and, where applicable, the joint controller, the controller's representative and the data protection officer;

(b) the purposes of the processing;

(c) a description of the categories of data subjects and of the categories of personal data;

(d) the categories of recipients to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed including recipients in third countries or international organisations;

(e) where applicable, transfers of personal data to a third country or an international organisation, including the identification of that third country or international organisation and, in the case of transfers referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 49(1), the documentation of suitable safeguards;

(f) where possible, the envisaged time limits for erasure of the different categories of data;

(g) where possible, a general description of the technical and organisational security measures referred to in Article 32(1).

2. Each processor and, where applicable, the processor's representative shall maintain a record of all categories of processing activities carried out on behalf of a controller, containing:

(a) the name and contact details of the processor or processors and of each controller on behalf of which the processor is acting, and, where applicable, of the controller's or the processor's representative, and the data protection officer;

(b) the categories of processing carried out on behalf of each controller;

(c) where applicable, transfers of personal data to a third country or an international organisation, including the identification of that third country or international organisation and, in the case of transfers referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 49(1), the documentation of suitable safeguards;

(d) where possible, a general description of the technical and organisational security measures referred to in Article 32(1).

3. The records referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be in writing, including in electronic form.

4. The controller or the processor and, where applicable, the controller's or the processor's representative, shall make the record available to the supervisory authority on request.

5. The obligations referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall not apply to an enterprise or an organisation employing fewer than 250 persons unless the processing it carries out is likely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of data subjects, the processing is not occasional, or the processing includes special categories of data as referred to in Article 9(1) or personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences referred to in Article 10.

Relevant Recitals

Recital 13: Harmonisation of Protection and Advantages for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises

In order to ensure a consistent level of protection for natural persons throughout the Union and to prevent divergences hampering the free movement of personal data within the internal market, a Regulation is necessary to provide legal certainty and transparency for economic operators, including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and to provide natural persons in all Member States with the same level of legally enforceable rights and obligations and responsibilities for controllers and processors, to ensure consistent monitoring of the processing of personal data, and equivalent sanctions in all Member States as well as effective cooperation between the supervisory authorities of different Member States. The proper functioning of the internal market requires that the free movement of personal data within the Union is not restricted or prohibited for reasons connected with the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data. To take account of the specific situation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, this Regulation includes a derogation for organisations with fewer than 250 employees with regard to record-keeping. In addition, the Union institutions and bodies, and Member States and their supervisory authorities, are encouraged to take account of the specific needs of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in the application of this Regulation. The notion of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises should draw from Article 2 of the Annex to Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC.

Recital 82: Maintenance and Availability of Records

In order to demonstrate compliance with this Regulation, the controller or processor should maintain records of processing activities under its responsibility. Each controller and processor should be obliged to cooperate with the supervisory authority and make those records, on request, available to it, so that it might serve for monitoring those processing operations.

Recital 89: Abolishment of Indiscriminate General Notification

Directive 95/46/EC provided for a general obligation to notify the processing of personal data to the supervisory authorities. While that obligation produces administrative and financial burdens, it did not in all cases contribute to improving the protection of personal data. Such indiscriminate general notification obligations should therefore be abolished, and replaced by effective procedures and mechanisms which focus instead on those types of processing operations which are likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons by virtue of their nature, scope, context and purposes. Such types of processing operations may be those which in, particular, involve using new technologies, or are of a new kind and where no data protection impact assessment has been carried out before by the controller, or where they become necessary in the light of the time that has elapsed since the initial processing.

Commentary

Article 30 GDPR requires controllers and processors to maintain a record of processing activities. This obligation replaces the old notification obligation where data processing activities had to be notified to Supervisory Authorities ("SA") and represents the expression of several data processing principles. On the one hand, it promotes accountability by allowing the controller to keep track of its processing and amend it where necessary. It is thus an important tool for complying with various obligations of the controller (e.g. Information obligations under Article 13 and 14 GDPR) rights of data subjects (e.g. Right of access under Article 15 GDPR). On the other hand, it increases the overall transparency of the processing and makes it easier for SAs to roughly assess the lawfulness of processing activities. In practice, the record of processing activities is an updated written account of the main elements of the processing.

Paragraph 1 of this provision specifies the information that the controller must include in the record of processing activities.

Paragraph 2 serves the same purpose, but it is addressed to the processor.

Paragraph 3 clarifies that the record must be in written form, possibly also in electronic form.

The following paragraph, paragraph 4, states that the record must be provided to supervisory authorities when they request it.

Finally, the last paragraph establishes exceptions to the obligation to keep the record for controllers and processors with fewer than 250 employees, unless additional conditions are met.

(1) Record of processing activities by the controller

Each controller and [...] the controller's representative

The addressee of the obligation to maintain a record of processing activities is mainly the controller (as defined in Article 4(7) GDPR). However, in case a controller is not established in the Union, the obligation applies to controller's representatives.

In case of a processing activity under joint controllership, it is argued that it is sufficient that only one controller maintains the record of processing activities. This must be stipulated in the joint controllership agreement (see Article 26 GDPR) otherwise each controller is obliged to maintain the respective record. However, each controller is responsible for the record of processing activities and has to provide it to a SA if necessary.

In a group of companies, each controller has to maintain its own record of processing activities.

Common mistake: The holding company of a group of companies - each of which is a separate controller for a number of processing activities - maintains one record of processing activities for all group companies.

Such a practice would be unlawful since the responsibility to maintain a record of processing activities lies with each separate controller.

Internally, the controller's (or representative's) management has to ensure that the respective obligation is fulfilled. While the data protection officer ("DPO") might support and consult, maintaining the record of processing activities is not one of its duties under Article 39 GDPR and could lead to a conflict of interest.

EDPB: WP29, 'Position Paper on the derogations from the obligation to maintain records of processing activities pursuant to Article 30(5) GDPR', 19 April 2018 (available here).

maintain a record of processing activities

This provision establishes the controller's (or its representative's) obligation to maintain a record of processing activities under its responsibility. This will generally be a written document encompassing all the processing activities performed by a controller, regardless of whether the controller performs the processing itself or uses processors.

The term "processing activity" does not refer to the definition of "processing" in Article 4(2) GDPR which encompasses any operation which is performed on personal data. Rather, a "processing activity" can be understood as the sum of all data processing operations (each a processing under Article 4(2) GDPR) carried out to achieve a specified purpose. This level could be equal or similar to a business process but should be specific enough to make it possible to reasonably assess the lawfulness of the processing activity.

For example: A website provider has to verify the age of users and does so by a asking for users dates of birth, calculating their age and later deleting the information collected from data subjects. While the collection, calculation and deletion would each be a processing under Article 4(2) GDPR, the processing activity which needs to be recorded in the record of processing activities under Article 30 GDPR would be the whole age verification. Only on this level it is possible to assess whether the processing operation might be lawful or the security measures might be sufficient.

The record of processing activities has be maintained. It is not sufficient to prepare the record of processing activity just once. Similarly it is insufficient to include each processing activity only with the information available at the implementation of the processing activity. Rather, the record of processing actives should reflect the current state of the processing activities. Regular updates are therefore strictly necessary.

contain all of the following information

Article 30(1) GDPR provides a list of the elements that must be contained in the record of processing activities carried out by the controller. If the controller is located outside the EU, then its representative in the EU under Article 27 GDPR is subject to this obligation.

However, the controller could add additional information to the record of processing activities. This could be advisable if the controller wants to further improve the record of processing activities value for assessing the lawfulness of processing activities and the fulfilment of other obligations.

(a) Names and contact details

Article 30(1)(a) GDPR states it should contain the name and contact details of the controller and, where applicable, the joint controller(s), the controller's representative and the data protection officer. In case of joint controllership, it is necessary to list the names and contact details of all joint controllers.

This information is intended to enable an unambiguous identification of the controller(s) and whoever else is responsible under the GDPR. The notion of 'contact details' is not limited to a simple email address. It must contain all the elements (physical address, telephone number, contact person) that make it possible to contact a particular person or, where appropriate, reach them for an inspection.

(b) Purposes of the processing

Article 30(1)(b) GDPR requires the controller to provide a description of the purposes of the processing. In accordance with Article 5(2)(b) GDPR, purposes must be determined prior to the data collection and, in principle, subsequent processing is only allowed for such pre-specified purposes, which must be clear and transparent to enable the supervisory authority to assess the adequacy of safeguards implemented and the lawfulness of the processing during potential audits.

Speaking of lawfulness, the provision does not require to mention the legal basis upon which a certain purpose relies. This gap should be filled by interpreting the text in line with the principle of accountability. If a controller must demonstrate compliance with the GDPR, then it must have a "firm and reasoned notion about the legal basis of processing before it starts any operation, and this notion should be verifiable by means of its records. Thus, in order for the keeping of records to be meaningful, it will be necessary for the controller to be able to demonstrate on which legal basis it relies in its processing".

(c) Categories of data subjects and of personal data

Article 30(1)(c) GDPR establishes that the record of processing activities shall describe the categories of data subjects and the categories of personal data.

Examples of categories of data subjects are "website visitors", "clinic patients", "employees".

Categories of personal data may be "website clicks", "diagnosis", "holiday leave", as well as "union affiliations". The list of categories should make it sufficiently clear whether special categories of personal data under Article 9 GDPR or personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences under Article 10 GDPR are processed.

Each category of personal data should be tied to the category of data subject it belongs to. For example, the record of processing activities should clearly show that the two categories "holiday leave" and "union affiliations" are processed with regard to the "employees" category.

(d) Categories of recipients

Article 30(1)(d) GDPR prescribes that controllers should describe the categories of recipients to whom personal data have been or will be disclosed. The wording of the provision suggests that only the categories of addressees have to be indicated, such as "suppliers", "accountants", "marketing consultants", or "legal advisors". However, this ambiguity does not seem advisable, as other provisions of the GDPR require the controller to keep track of individual recipients. For example, Article 15(1)(c) GDPR and Article 19 GDPR require the disclosure of “recipients or categories of recipients” and specific recipients “if the data subject requests it” respectively. Based on the same logical and legal premises, the CJEU has recently clarified that, if requested by the data subject, the controller is obliged to provide a specific list of recipients. As such, it would go against its aim of increasing accountability not to specify the recipients in the record of processing activities.

(e) International transfers

In accordance with Article 30(1)(e) GDPR, the controller shall provide information regarding the transfers of personal data to a third country or an international organisation and, in the case of the applicability of Article 49(1) GDPR, the documentation of suitable safeguards. There is no obligation to name the means by which the controller intends to ensure an adequate level of protection on the part of the foreign recipient of the data. Additional information "is needed only if a data transfer shall, exceptionally, be based on Article 49(1), second subparagraph, which pertains to occasional ('non-repetitive') transfers of data about a limited number of data subjects and for compelling legitimate interests".

(f) Envisaged time limits for erasure

Article 30(1)(f) GDPR requires controllers to clarify the envisaged time limits for erasure of different categories of data. If the controller knows when certain data will be deleted, it is necessary to indicate this period. However, it may not be feasible to specify an exact deletion period for every processing, especially if the permissible storage duration is contingent upon the indefinite duration of a contract. In such cases, it is advisable to provide a general deadline for deletion. Specifying the deletion period also helps the supervisory authority ensure compliance with the requirements of data minimisation (Article 5(1)(c) GDPR) and storage limitation (Article 5(1)(e) GDPR).

(g) Description of security measures

Under Article 30(1)(f) GDPR, where possible, the controller provides a "general description" of the technical and organisational security measures referred to in Article 32(1) GDPR. Controller will likely use categories of measures such as "use of anti-virus programs," "restriction of external access", "security guards at the facility" or similar. However, if the controller engages in numerous processing activities, it can result in a significant documentation effort.

The listed security measures should make it possible for the controller (as well as for a SA) to assess if the implemented technical and organisational security measures seem appropriate and sufficient for the processing activity. Therefore, the record of processing activities could be a viable place to collect information about the risk assessment the controller hast to perform due to various provisions (Articles 5(1), 24, 25, 32 GDPR). In any case, it is recommended to document the outcome of the risk assessment(s) in the record of processing activities.

(2) Record of processing activities by the processor

Each processor and [...] the processor's representative

Article 30(2) GDPR obliges a processor to maintain a separate record of all categories of processing activities besides the record that is already kept by the controller under Article 30(1) GDPR. In case the processor is not established in the Union, the processor's representative is obliged to maintain a record of processing activities (see commentary on Article 27 GDPR). The record of all categories of processing activities is commonly also referred to as record of processing activities.

Regarding groups of companies and the position of the DPO see commentary on Article 30(1) GDPR above.

maintain a record of all categories of processing activities

While a controller has to maintain a record of all categories of processing activities, the processor's (or its representative) obligation refers to a record of all categories of processing activities. Accordingly, the level of detail of the record maintained by the processor can be lower.

Regarding the terms "maintain" and "processing activity" see the commentary to the controller's parallel obligation under Article 30(1) GDPR above.

Carried out on behalf of the controller

It should be highlighted that the record of all categories of processing activities under Article 30(2) GDPR is and should be documented separately from the record of processing activities under Article 30(1) GDPR. The record under Article 30(2) GDPR should only include processing activities performed as a processor, i.e. on behalf of the controller. This is another opportunity to carefully assess the data protection roles for each processing activity.

Therefore, entities that perform processing activities on behalf of controllers (i.e. processors) will generally have to maintain two records of processing activities. One for the processing activities for which they are a controller and one for the processing activities for which they are a processor. This emphasizes the severe difference between its data protection role in connection with the different processing activities.

Containing

Article 30(2) GDPR regulates the minimum requirements of the processor's records of processing activities (or, where available, its representative's under Article 27 GDPR). These rules, which partly overlap with those established by Article 30(1) GDPR, notably provide for an obligation on the processor to record the following elements.

(a) Names and contact details of processor and controller

Under Article 30(2)(a) GDPR, similarly to the controller's requirement under Article 30(1)(a) GDPR, the processor must record the name and contact details of the processor or processors. In addition, the processor should indicate the name as well as the contact details of all the controllers (or their representatives) on whose behalf they operate. The later requirement may presents significant challenges for processors engaged in large-scale businesses such as cloud service providers, hosting providers, or software-as-a-service platforms, as they frequently work with thousands or even hundreds of thousands of controllers. Therefore, it is argued that it should be sufficient to record the category of controllers on behalf of which the processing takes place and provide a SA a full list only on demand. However, a processor should at all time know for for which controller a processing activity is performed.

This provision further requires that the name and contact details of the data protection officer is included. This obligation refers to the processors data protection officer (if one is appointed), and not the data protection officer of the controllers.

(b) Categories of processing carried out on behalf of the controller

Article 30(2)(b) GDPR requires the processor to list the categories of processing carried out on behalf of each controller. The processor is only required to document the categories of processing. The notion of categories implies (similar to the term "processing activity") that individual processing operations are not described in detail. It is likely sufficient for the processor to provide a general description of their service in the documentation (such as cloud computing or software-as-a-service).

(c) International transfers

Where applicable, information on the transfers of personal data to a third country or an international organisation and, in the case of the applicability of Article 49(1) GDPR, the documentation of suitable safeguards (Article 30(2)(c) GDPR). See commentary under Article 30(1)(e) GDPR.

(d) Description of security measures

The processor's record of processing activities must contain a general description of the technical and organisational security measures referred to in Article 32(1) GDPR. See commentary under Article 30(1)(g) GDPR.

(3) Written form

The records of processing activities shall be in writing, including in electronic form. Generally, it will be more practical to maintain the record of processing activities in an electronic format. While this provision does not make any specifications on the used format, it is required that it is possible to export a the record of processing activities as a text document. This enables controllers to provide SAs with the records when requested under Article 30(4) GDPR. A usable format of the record of processing activities is also required to comply with, inter alia, the principles of accountability and transparency.

Article 30(3) GDPR does not specify the language in which the record of processing activities has to be maintained. However, controllers or processors will regularly be required to provide SAs with documents in the respective national language.

Any changes to the processing operation should be transparent and traceable (e.g. who has been the controller, processor or data protection officer – and when). Such a history of amendments should be logged for reasonable amount of time.

(4) Make [...] available to the supervisory authority

Under Article 30(4) GDPR, the controller or the processor and, where applicable, the controller's or the processor's representative, shall make the record available to the SA on request. SAs can investigate controllers and processor as general control measure, but also where data breaches have occurred and data subjects have filed complaints. Records of processing activities therefore have to be available, at any time, to be provided to SAs upon request.

Although not explicitly stated in Article 30(4) GDPR, the record of processing activity should also be made available to the DPO. Otherwise, the DPO may not have the necessary resources to carry out their duties, as provided for in Article 38(2) of the GDPR.

There is no obligation to provide the record of processing activities directly to third parties, including data subjects. However, a significant portion of the information contained in the record of processing activities is already available in privacy policies (Articles 13 and 14 GDPR) or in response to access requests (Article 15 GDPR). In this regard, it should be noted that the record of processing activities may contain additional information or be voluntarily documented in greater detail (particularly if it serves as a compliance tool), and it might also include trade secrets (such as technical and organizational measures implemented).

(5) Exceptions

Employing fewer than 250 person

Article 32(5) GDPR provides for an exemption from the obligation to maintain a record of processing activities for small actors. At the same time this provision also provides exceptions from the exception, i.e. situations in which also small actors have to maintain a record of processing activities.

Accordingly, an enterprise or an organisation employing less than 250 persons is not obliged to maintain records of processing. Relevant is the total number of employees, not just the employees engaged in the processing of personal data. The aim of the exception is to release small companies from a disproportionate bureaucratic burden.

However, this exception does not apply if (at least) one of the conditions described below apply. The wording of Article 30(5) GDPR is clear in providing that these three types of processing to which the derogation does not apply (the exemptions from the exemption) are alternative and the occurrence of any one of them alone triggers the obligation to maintain the record of processing activities.

It could reasonably be argued that in case a small enterprise or organisation is obligated to maintain a record of processing activities due to the applicability of one of the three cases below, this obligation refers only to the type of processing mentioned in Article 30(5) GDPR. However, it is still subject to debate, whether the application of one of the three cases would oblige the enterprise or organisation to maintain a record of processing activities covering all of its processing activities. Since almost any enterprise or organisation has at least one processing activity that is not occasional (especially if it has some employees), the remaining scope of the application would be very small in the later interpretation. Due to this uncertainty and the record of processing activities' potential benefits in the data protection governance, it can be generally recommended to maintain some kine of record of processing activities even if the obligation does not directly apply.

likely to result in a risk

Even an enterprise or an organisation with less than 250 employees has to maintain a record of processing activities, if the processing it carries out is likely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of data subjects. It is unclear, how the this provision should be interpreted since it could be argued that the processing of personal data is always connected to some risks to the rights and freedoms of data subjects (however small). This would mean that the provision would lack any area of applicability. Therefore, the provision is commonly interpreted in referring to a risk that exceeds the risk inherent to any processing of personal data.

not occasional

Small enterprises or organisations also have to maintain a record of processing activities in case the processing is not occasional. This means that the obligation to maintain a record of processing activities applies for all processing activities that are continuous or systematic.

For example: The processing of personal data by a small company in course of its human resources management is continuous and systematic and therefore not occasional. The company has to maintain a record of the processing activity.

special categories of data or data relating to criminal convictions

The third situation in which even small enterprises and organisations have to maintain a record of processing activities is when the processing includes special categories of data (Article 9(1) GDPR) or personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences referred to in Article 10 GDPR. See the commentary on the respective provision for more information on the data categories.

Decisions

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