BfDI draws positive conclusion of 5 years of GDPR

The BfDI Professor Ulrich Kelber said: At the beginning, of course, there was some uncertainty among all parties involved, as it is perfectly normal when it comes to introducing a large, new legal system. Meanwhile, we are increasingly moving in safe and predictable waters. It is exactly the recent decisions in cross-border cases which have shown that even the major international providers must abide by the law.

With regard to the role model effect, the BfDI states: The GDPR has set a new standard in Europe, which is increasingly finding its way into the data protection rules of other countries worldwide. In this way, those countries also want to enable the free movement of data, which is trusted by citizens. Countries following the model of the GDPR include amongst others Japan, Korea, Israel, Brazil and an increasing number of states in the USA.

The BfDI sees future challenges in particular in the concrete regulation of new technologies, such as artificial intelligence. He formulates two specific wishes for the future: With regard to major, cross-border cases, we need faster processing so that they can have a signal effect beyond the individual case and create legal certainty. It is important that applicable law is enforced. In addition, we need producer liability also in data protection. It is unacceptable that small and medium-sized enterprises in particular have to take responsibility for data protection, which would actually be the task of the Microsofts, Googles and AWS of this world. This applies all the more when AI systems are increasingly used.