On 17 December 2021, the European Commission (the Commission) adopted an adequacy decision for South Korea. This means that free transfers of personal data from the European Economic Area (EEA) to private and public entities in South Korea will be permitted from that date onwards (including remote access from South Korea).
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European Economic Area (EEA)
GDPR: Is it a transfer? Is it not a transfer? It’s EDPB guidance on Chapter V
By Cynthia O’Donoghue on
The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) recently adopted Guidelines 05/2021 (the Guidelines) on the interplay between what it means to be outside the European Economic Area (EEA) but directly applicable to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and what constitutes an international transfer under Chapter V of the GDPR.
The Guidelines set out a ‘cumulative’ definition providing a three-step assessment, and each step of the definition needs to be satisfied before a transfer is deemed to be a transfer of personal data. The guidance seeks to address the questions raised by the European Commission (EC) when it issued the standard contractual clauses (SCCs) earlier this year. The main question is whether personal data processed by a company outside the EEA but subject to the GDPR is a transfer or not.
The Guidelines seek to settle that question that such movements of personal data are not transfers. Instead, the Guidelines state the controllers or processors of such personal data, due to their being subject to the GDPR, must apply Chapter V to the personal data they transfer to a third country as if they were located in the EEA. What can be deemed a ‘geographic’ transfer rather than a legal one separately subject to Chapter V. The Guidelines, however, are open for a consultation period, so the question does not have a definitive answer yet.Continue Reading GDPR: Is it a transfer? Is it not a transfer? It’s EDPB guidance on Chapter V
South Korea – EDPB adopts an opinion on the Commission’s draft adequacy decision
By Cynthia O’Donoghue & Asélle Ibraimova on
On 24 September 2021, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) issued its opinion on the European Commission’s (EC) draft adequacy decision in respect of South Korea.
On 16 June 2021, the EC launched the procedure for the adoption of an adequacy decision for South Korea under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which would allow free transfers of personal data from the European Economic Area (EEA) to South Korea’s commercial operators and public authorities.
Overall, the EDPB found the central aspects of South Korea’s data protection framework to be essentially equivalent to the European data protection framework. The EDPB’s review focused on both the general aspects of the GDPR (such as data protection concepts, transparency, data retention and grounds for lawful processing for a legitimate purpose) and also on the local laws allowing access by public authorities to personal data transferred from the EEA for law enforcement and national security purposes. The EDPB also reviewed the Notification adopted by the South Korean data protection authority that was designed to fill gaps between the GDPR and Korean framework (Notification).Continue Reading South Korea – EDPB adopts an opinion on the Commission’s draft adequacy decision