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 on Article 30

Article 30 GDPR describes the obligation to maintain a record of processing activities. This means that each controller and processor has to establish a record of each processing activity that concerns personal data. The definition of processing activities corresponds with the definition of processing in Article 4 (2) GDPR. The stipulation systematically goes hand in hand with the principles and obligations stated in Article 5, 6, 12. GDPR.[1] Only when a record of processing activities exists, principles such as transparency, purpose, data minimization, accuracy, storage limitation and accountability etc., can be realized. It serves as a self-control mechanism to assess what kind of processing activities are at stake.[2] Moreover, Data Protection Impact Assessments (“DPIA”) are included in these records to legitimize the respective processing activity, in particular if there is a high risk for personal data. Therefore, technical and organizational measures also have to be mentioned in the record.

Another reason for maintaining records has to do with accountability. When either a data subjects enforces its rights (Article 12 GDPR) or a data protection authority requests information about processing (Article 24 (1) GDPR), all activities can easily be explained. A record of data processing activities is useful and eases the process of giving a data subject the information that have been asked for. The record can also help in drafting and keeping the privacy policy up to date.

The record of processing activities serves as an accountability instrument for the data protection authority to assess compliance. However, it also supports the controller in assessing its own processing as well as the one carried out by possible external processors.

(1) Record of processing activities

The obligation to record processing activities lays with the controller and not with the data protection officer.

Activities which have to be included in the non-exhaustive list are the following: (1) The name and contact details of the controller and related parties; (2) The purposes of the processing; (3) A description of the categories of data subjects and of the categories of personal data; (4) The categories of recipients; (5) Transfers of personal data to a third country or an international organisation and, in the case of the applicability of Article 49(1), the documentation of suitable safeguards; (6) A data deletion concept; (7) A general description of the technical and organisational security measures referred to in Article 32(1).

(2) Categories of processing activities

The processor has the obligations to record (1) The name and contact details of the controller on behalf of which the processor is acting; (2) The categories of processing carried out on behalf of each controller; (3) Transfers of personal data to a third country or an international organisation and, in the case of the applicability of Article 49(1), the documentation of suitable safeguards; (4) A general description of the technical and organisational security measures referred to in Article 32(1).

Regarding the safeguards of Article 49 (1) GDPR, some companies might turn to this article, after the EU-US Privacy Shield has been invalidated by the European Court of Justice in Schrems II[3]. However, they need to justify their choice of derogation in the records of data processing.

Article 30 (3) GDPR

The records shall be in writing; this includes as well electronic formats. Chambers of Commerce as well as supervisory authorities in the EU provide for templates in pdf and word formats. In general, these records shall include processing activities, applications, responsible persons (“owners of data”) which is connected with the organizational structure of the respective company/organisation.

The obligation to keep the record up to date is not expressly regulated in the GDPR. However, if the record is not kept up to date, it is not possible to comply with the principles of transparency etc. and to provide the data protection authority with such records when requested.[4] Moreover, the accountability to keep it up to date does not lay with the data protection officer, but with the representative of the respective enterprise or organization.[5]

In addition, this leads to the question, whether the record needs to be electronically or has at least to provide for a timestamp, which is easier to trace in an electronic format. This means changes that have been made to the record need to be available to show ongoing compliance. Due to the principle of accountability (Article 5 (2) GDPR), changes have to be transparent and traceable, e.g. who has been the controller/processor or data protection officer etc. at a certain point in time.[6] This kind of documentation of changes should be kept for a certain amount of time.[7]

Article 30 (4) GDPR

The supervisory authorities can assess companies and organisations as general control measure, but also in case of data breaches and complaints of data subjects. This is why a records of processing activities needs to be available at any time to provide the supervisory authority with it upon request.

Article 30 (5) GDPR - Exceptions

An enterprise or an organisation employing less than 250 persons is not obliged to implement the record of processing. However, the obligation becomes applicable if such an organization carries out processing that 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 (Article 9(1) GDPR) or personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences referred to in Article 10.

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[1] Hartung in Kühling/Buchner, DS-GVO, BDSG, Kommentar, 2nd edition, 2018, Art. 30 para 11.

[2] Hartung in Kühling/Buchner, DS-GVO, BDSG, Kommentar, 2nd edition, 2018, Art. 30 para 12.

[3] ECJ, case C-311/18, 16 July 2020, ECLI:EU:C:2020:559.

[4]  Hartung in Kühling/Buchner, DS-GVO, BDSG, Kommentar, 2nd edition, 2018, Art. 30 para 31.

[5]  Hartung in Kühling/Buchner, DS-GVO, BDSG, Kommentar, 2nd edition, 2018, Art. 30 para 31.

[6] DSK, Datenchutzkonferenz, Hinweise zum Verzeichnis von Verarbeitungstätigkeiten, Art. 30 DS-GVO, p. 3, https://www.ldi.nrw.de/mainmenu_Datenschutz/submenu_Datenschutzbeauftragte/Inhalt/Behoerdliche_Datenschutzbeauftragte/Inhalt/Das-Verarbeitungsverzeichnis-nach-Artikel-30-DS-GVO/Hinweise-zum-Verzeichnis-von-Verarbeitungstaetigkeiten.pdf accessed on 01.10.2020, 15:23.

[7] DSK, Datenchutzkonferenz, Hinweise zum Verzeichnis von Verarbeitungstätigkeiten, Art. 30 DS-GVO, p. 3, https://www.ldi.nrw.de/mainmenu_Datenschutz/submenu_Datenschutzbeauftragte/Inhalt/Behoerdliche_Datenschutzbeauftragte/Inhalt/Das-Verarbeitungsverzeichnis-nach-Artikel-30-DS-GVO/Hinweise-zum-Verzeichnis-von-Verarbeitungstaetigkeiten.pdf accessed on 01.10.2020, 15:23.

Decisions

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