About: European Data Protection Superviser

France hits Google with €50 million GDPR fine

By hitting Google with a fine, the French data regulatory authority has set a precedent which may rattle digital leaders across Europe - the derelictions of duty which Google is accused of in France are shared by many other operators. EURACTIV France reports.

Privacy regulators in hotseat over future of ‘fundamental’ website owners list

The internet is at risk of becoming fragmented if online databases that show who owns websites are shut down after the EU’s new data protection law takes effect next month, the head of internet domain organisation ICANN has warned.

Top EU privacy watchdog calls Facebook data allegations the ‘scandal of the century’

Privacy regulators from across the EU should join together to investigate allegations that London-based firm Cambridge Analytica illegally analysed millions of Facebook users’ data, the EU’s top data protection watchdog has said.

Top EU privacy watchdog wants centralised regulator with muscle to police firms

EU lawmakers should create a new, centralised data protection authority to oversee investigations of privacy breaches that affect more than member state in the bloc, Giovanni Buttarelli, the EU’s top privacy watchdog, said in an interview.

Commission conducting review of all foreign data transfer deals

The European Commission is reviewing the 12 data transfer agreements it has with countries outside the bloc, as part of a scrutiny process that could potentially result in the deals being axed.

EU privacy watchdog: Privacy shield should be temporary

European privacy watchdogs have received “a few” complaints about the privacy shield data transfer agreement with the United States since it was brokered one year ago, the EU's top privacy advocate said in an interview.

EU top court rules against bulk retention of emails

The European Union's top court ruled Wednesday (21 December) against the bulk retention of emails and other electronic data by EU member states, such as that under new British legislation.

The Microsoft ruling: Mending EU-US digital relations

Microsoft’s successful appeal against a US Department of Justice request to access emails stored on its foreign servers marks an important milestone for international consumer privacy and the tech community, writes Brian Stafford.

Refocus the data debate around individuals

Europe's new privacy rules give businesses a chance to innovate – and Facebook is starting a new coalition on personal data, writes Stephen Deadman.

Europe’s rude awakening to big data politics

To many in the Brussels bubble, the big data revolution came as a rude awakening, with revelations of mass-scale eavesdropping by US intelligence. Although EU policymakers have now embraced the economic potential of big data, privacy fears are never far in the distance

Data protection watchdog: Privacy Shield is ‘not robust enough’

The EU's top privacy watchdog blasted the still pending Privacy Shield agreement yesterday (30 May), dealing a blow to the European Commission-brokered data transfer agreement with the United States.

Commission’s ‘Umbrella Agreement’ with US under fire from MEPs

French watchdog orders Facebook to stop illegal data transfers to the US

The French data protection authority on Monday (8 February) gave Facebook three months to stop tracking non-users' web activity without their consent and ordered the social network to stop transferring personal data to the United States.

EU data protection reform may promise more than it delivers

Implementing the biggest shake-up to Europe's fragmented data protection laws in two decades may fail to provide companies with the consistency and simplicity that had been promised across the 28-nation bloc.

EU strikes deal on strict new data protection reform

EU negotiators wrapped up talks on a major data protection reform last night (15 December) that will tighten privacy laws and determine how companies handle consumers' personal data.

UK unveils plan to spy on Internet use, raising privacy fears

Britain unveiled plans on Wednesday (4 November) for sweeping new surveillance powers, including the right to find out which websites people visit, measures which critics denounce as an assault on freedoms.

EU watchdog launches transparency app for data privacy talks

European Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli published his recommended version of the data protection regulation today (27 July) and launched a mobile app that compares his suggestions to the three proposals from the European Parliament, Commission and the Council.

Buttarelli: No compromise on data protection reform

EU leaders have vowed to agree on a new data protection regulation this year. Less than a month before the European Commission, Parliament and Council meet to negotiate the legislation, Data Protection Supervisor Giovanni Buttarelli says there's no room for mistakes.

EU data czar seeks global voice amidst tension with US

The EU will seek a global voice in the burgeoning data privacy debate, the new European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS), Giovanni Buttarelli, said yesterday (28 January) against a backdrop of mounting tension on data issues between the EU and the US.

PRISM scandal threatens EU-US ‘Safe Harbour’ agreement

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) could be tempted to invalidate "Safe Harbour" agreements on data retention between the United States and the European Union because of the PRISM spying scandal, writes Yann Padova.

Italian-Polish partnership to safeguard personal data in EU

Giovanni Buttarelli is to become the new European Data Protection Supervisor, with Wojciech Rafa? Wiewiórowski as his second in command. This discreet institution will play an increasingly powerful role in European policy. EURACTIV France reports. 

EU court ruling opens door for ‘right to be forgotten’ on the Internet

Google could be forced to remove links to news stories about individuals from its search results, following a ruling today (13 May) by the European Court of Justice, backing the EU's drive to introduce a "right to be forgotten" on the Internet.

Pressure grows over EU data watchdog replacement

The European Commission is coming under pressure to explain why it believes no suitable candidates have emerged to replace the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) – the EU’s data protection watchdog – and his deputy, when the pair’s term of office expires on 16 January.