The work of the data protection authority in this year, which was once again very labor-intensive, was primarily characterized by the Covid 19 pandemic. Many things could not be implemented as originally planned, and numerous projects had to be changed, postponed, or even canceled at short notice. Nevertheless, the current difficult situation in particular made it clear that data privacy is a fundamental right and deserves special protection even in turbulent times. The basic principles of the General Data Protection Regulation provided clear guidelines for weighing up and finding a balance between data use to combat the pandemic and protection of privacy, and their uniform standard throughout Europe ensured (at least approximately) clear boundaries.
Numerous questions also arose around the home office, such as employee data protection in the home office or the data protection conformity of video conferencing systems. Likewise, the tremendous momentum of the development of digital technologies created numerous challenges, and responding to the related inquiries required a great deal of time as well as the increasing combination of legal and technical expertise.
The annual report provides insight into the challenges and achievements of the data protection authority in 2020.
