What’s in a name?
On the 25th of May 2018, the day from which the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is applicable, the Belgian Commission for the Protection of Privacy (CVPV/CBPL) will change its name to the Belgian Data Protection Authority (DPA).
But what’s new?
Whereas the CVPV/CBPL frequently acts in a purely advisory role, the role of the DPA will reflect the broader remedies, including powers to supervise and sanction, provided by the GDPR. To facilitate carrying out its more extensive role, the DPA will change its structure by creating six new bodies: Executive Committee, Central Secretariat, First Line Service, Knowledge Centre, Inspection Service and Litigation Chamber.
Any natural person will be able to file a complaint free of charge with the DPA and the DPA will publish a complaints document for this purpose. The First Line Service will examine whether or not a complaint is admissible. If the complaint is admissible, it will be transferred to the Litigation Chamber. The Litigation Chamber has a discretion whether to take further action in a particular case – so not every complaint will result in administrative action being taken. For those cases which it pursues, the Litigation Chamber can, among other things, formulate a warning, hand the case over to the Crown Prosecutor, propose a settlement or impose an administrative fine.
Further information about data protection and FLINN’s GDPR Toolkit can be found here.
Source: Law of 3 December 2017 on creation of the Data Protection Authority, published in the Belgian Official Gazette (Moniteur Belge/Belgisch Staatsblad) on 10 January 2018.
Share us!
