- People, from left: Peter Schaar, Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information; Prof. Dr. Gerhard Kongehl, Managing Director and Scientific Director of udis; Jörg Klingbeil, State Commissioner for Data Protection in Baden-Württemberg; and Thomas Spaeing, Chairman of the Board of the Professional Association of Data Protection Officers in Germany (BvD) e.V.
Leading representatives and experts in data protection from Germany and the European Union attended the udis anniversary conference. Among them were the Federal Data Protection Commissioner, the state data protection commissioners from several federal states, staff members of data protection supervisory authorities, and members of the European Parliament and state parliaments.
The conference was held under the theme
“Data Protection 0.0 – The EU General Data Protection Regulation and the End of Privacy,”
because the member states of the European Union are expected to transfer much of their legislative authority to the EU in the coming years, and a data protection law that applies equally to all EU member states is to be established in its place. It has not yet been decided what the level of data protection in the EU will be or should be at that time. This was also the central topic of discussion among the speakers and conference participants (program: www.udis.de/kongress).
Federal Data Protection Commissioner Peter Schaar advocated further improving the role of the corporate data protection officer as outlined in the draft, since this position will play an important role in the future in all EU member states as an on-site expert. Jan Philipp Albrecht, the European Parliament’s rapporteur on the proposed EU General Data Protection Regulation, shared this view. He would like to see the current German standard applied throughout the EU in the future.
The Bavarian State Data Protection Commissioner, Dr. Thomas Petri, praised the collaboration to date between local data protection officers and supervisory authorities as a guarantee for the protection of privacy in the processing of personal data. However, if the current drafts remain unchanged, he believes that data protection supervisory authorities will be weakened in the future and their independence will be jeopardized, because the European Commission will be able to directly influence their supervisory activities. In this context, he also finds it problematic that, according to the EU’s plans, supervisory authorities are to be responsible not only for protecting the rights of data subjects but also—paradoxically—for the free flow of data within the EU.
Prof. Dr. Alexander Roßnagel, one of the best-known and most dedicated advocates of a constitutionally sound framework for information technology in Germany, pointed out, among other things, an enormous undemocratic shift of power toward the European Commission that would result from the EU General Data Protection Regulation: The draft would, in fact, regulate only the fundamental principles—and even those at a very abstract level. The concrete implementation—particularly with regard to future challenges that cannot yet be foreseen—would then be mandated by the European Commission through “delegated acts.” The parliaments in the individual member states would have virtually no influence left on data protection matters—presumably over the next ten to twenty years.
The participants at the udis anniversary conference were so moved by the speakers’ arguments that they unanimously adopted the “Ulm Resolution.” This resolution was forwarded to the European Parliament, the German Bundestag, and the German federal government immediately after the congress ended (www.udis.de/kongress/resolution.php).
On the evening of the first day of the conference, however, the future of data protection was set aside for the time being, and instead, the Ulm model for training data protection officers—which has been a great success so far—was duly celebrated. How could it be otherwise? The celebration featured another Ulm native—this time from the music scene—the trumpeter Joo Kraus, who is also well-known throughout Germany and has been honored with music awards such as the “Echo,” along with his double bassist Florian King.
