During its 46th plenary session, the EDPB adopted a wide range of documents and discussed the draft UK adequacy decisions presented by the European Commission.
The Board adopted its two-year work program for 2021-2022, according to Article 29 of the EDPB Rules of Procedure. The work program follows the priorities set out in the EDPB 2021-2023 Strategy and will put the Board’s strategic objectives into practice.
The EDPB adopted a statement on the draft ePrivacy Regulation. In its statement, the EDPB welcomes the agreement on the negotiation mandate by the Council as a positive step in the finalisation of the ePrivacy Regulation. The EDPB recalls that national authorities responsible for enforcement of the GDPR should be entrusted with the oversight of the privacy provisions of the future ePrivacy Regulation to ensure a harmonised interpretation and enforcement of the ePrivacy Regulation across the EU and to guarantee a level playing field in the Digital Single Market.
EDPB Chair, Andrea Jelinek said: “The ePrivacy Regulation must not – under no circumstances – lower the level of protection offered by the current ePrivacy Directive, and should complement the GDPR by providing additional strong guarantees for confidentiality and protection of all types of electronic communication.”
The EDPB adopted Guidelines on Virtual Voice Assistants (VVAs). These Guidelines aim to identify some of the most relevant compliance challenges for VVAs and to provide recommendations to relevant stakeholders on how to address them. The Guidelines will be submitted for public consultation for a period of six weeks.
The EDPB adopted a final version of the Guidelines on Connected Vehicles following public consultation. The Guidelines focus on the processing of personal data in relation to the non-professional use of connected vehicles by data subjects. The final version integrates updated wording, and further clarifications in order to address comments and feedback received during the public consultation.
The Board discussed the draft UK adequacy decisions, which were received from the European Commission. The EDPB will thoroughly review the draft decisions, taking into account the importance of guaranteeing the continuity and high level of protection for data transfers from the EU.
Finally, the EDPB adopted a joint EDPB-EDPS opinion on the Data Governance Act. A separate press release will be published on this topic later today.
SOURCE: COMITATO EUROPEO PER LA PROTEZIONE DEI DATI – EUROPEAN DATA PROTECTION BOARD – EDPB