The Dutch Data Protection Authority ( nl, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens, AP) is the

data protection authority In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete values that convey information, describing quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted. ...

for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and an independent administrative body that has been appointed by law as the supervisory authority for the processing of personal data. The organization is therefore concerned with

privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of a ...

. The duties of the AP derive from the

Data Protection Directive The Data Protection Directive, officially Directive 95/46/EC, enacted in October 1995, is a European Union directive which regulates the processing of personal data within the European Union (EU) and the free movement of such data. The Data Pr ...

that applies to all countries of the EU. This directive has been replaced by the

General Data Protection Regulation The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a European Union regulation on data protection and privacy in the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA). The GDPR is an important component of EU privacy law and of human rights law, in partic ...

. The Implementation Act General Data Protection Regulation has replaced the Personal Data Protection Act and appointed the AP as supervisor. All EU Member States have their own body, similar to the AP.

Legal task

The Authority for Personal Data has the statutory duty to assess whether persons and organizations, including government organisations, comply with the Dutch Personal Data Protection Act. The AP also supervises compliance with the Police Data Act, the Municipal Personal Records Database Act and all other statutory regulations concerning the processing of personal data.

Name changes

The organization was called the ''College bescherming persoonsgegevens'' (CBP) until 2016. The CBP followed the ''Registratiekamer'' in 2001. With the change of name as per 1 January 2016, the body was granted the power to impose fines for violations of the Personal Data Protection Act (Wbp). These changes were a result of drastic changes to that law. In fact, the name change of 2016 only applies to 'in society', according to article 51 of the Wbp. That article still gives 'College bescherming persoonsgegevens' as a formal name.

Supervision of compliance with the Personal Data Protection Act

The Personal Data Protection Act means that an organization may only process personal data that is demonstrably necessary for the organization and for which no explicit prohibition exists. Examples of this are medical, sexual, political data and data about membership of a trade union. For governments, the term 'demonstrably necessary' means that there must be a legal basis for the processing of data The supervisory functions mean that the Dutch Data Protection Authority can compel companies and governments to comply with the requirements of the Wbp. The AP can impose periodic penalty payments for this. Furthermore, the AP has a public register of data processing if it deviates from the usual processing. The AP can impose an administrative fine for not registering non-exempt processing. In all cases are supervised by court which makes the final decision. In addition, the AP has the task of advising ministers and the House of Representatives, both solicited and unsolicited, on legislative proposals, in the light of the Wbp or other applicable rules. The obligation to report data leaks by data controllers and processors to the Dutch Data Protection Authority is regulated by the inclusion of additional provisions in the WBP per 1/1/2016.

Members

The first members of the Data Protection Board were Peter Hustinx (chairman), Ulco van de Pol and Jan Willem Broekema (both vice-chairman). Hustinx and Van de Pol came from the Registratiekamer at the establishment of the Dutch DPA. Broekema came from the business sector. Hustinx later became the privacy supervisor for the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

. At the end of 2004, Jacob Kohnstamm, former politician, became chairman of the Dutch DPA. The chairman is appointed by royal decree for a period of six years, the two members for four years. On 1 August 2016, Kohnstam was succeeded by Aleid Wolfsen.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Data protection authorities Organizations established in 1984