Brussels, 05 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 requests the personal data from its subsidiary in Europe.
Upskilling and reskilling on AI and data protection
During its June’s plenary, the EDPB also presented two new Support Pool of Experts (SPE) projects*: Law & Compliance in AI Security and Data Protection and Fundamentals of Secure AI Systems with Personal Data. The two projects, which have been launched at the request of the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA), provide training material on AI and data protection.
The report “Law & Compliance in AI Security & Data Protection” is addressed to professionals with a legal focus like data protection officers (DPO) or privacy professionals.
The second report, “Fundamentals of Secure AI Systems with Personal Data”, is oriented toward professionals with a technical focus like cybersecurity professionals, developers or deployers of high-risk AI systems.
The main aim of these projects is to address the critical shortage of skills on AI and data protection, which is seen as a key obstacle to the use of privacy-friendly AI. The training material will help equip professionals with essential competences in AI and data protection to create a more favourable environment for the enforcement of data protection legislation.
The Board decided to publish both documents as PDF files. Taking into account the very fast evolution of AI, the EDPB also decided to launch a new innovative initiative as a one-year pilot project consisting of a modifiable community version of the reports. The EDPB will start working with the authors of both reports to import them in its Git repository** to allow, in a near future, any external contributor, with an account on this platform and under the condition of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, to propose changes or add comments to the documents.
Simplification of record-keeping obligation under the GDPR ***
Finally, the Board discussed the European Commission's request for a joint opinion by the EDPB and the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) on its proposal to simplify the record-keeping obligations of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), small mid-caps (SMCs) and organisations with fewer than 750 employees, amounting to a targeted amendment of Art. 30(5) GDPR. The EDPB and EDPS will issue their joint opinion on this matter within eight weeks.
Note to editors:
* The Support Pool of Experts (SPE) is an initiative included in the EDPB strategy 2024-2027 to help Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) increase their capacity to enforce by developing common tools and giving them access to a wide pool of experts.
As part of the SPE programme, the EDPB may commission experts to provide reports and tools on specific topics. The views expressed in the deliverables are those of their authors and they do not necessarily reflect the official position of the EDPB.
** The reports will be available in the following months on the repository page.
***On 8 May 2025, the EDPB and the EDPS adopted a letter, addressed to the European Commission, to share preliminary views on the Commission’s proposal on the simplification of record-keeping obligation under the GDPR.
