Guidelines on Data Protection Officers (‘DPOs’) (wp243rev.01)

Guidelines on Data Protection Officers (‘DPOs’) (wp243rev.01)

Section 3.2.  Necessary resources

Article 38 (2) of the GDPR requires the organisation to support its DPO by ‘providing resources necessary to carry out [their] tasks and access to personal data and processing operations, and to maintain his or her expert knowledge’. The following items, in particular, are to be considered:

• Active support of the DPO’s function by senior management (such as at board level).

• Sufficient time for DPOs to fulfil their duties. This is particularly important where an internal DPO is appointed on a part-time basis or where the external DPO carries out data protection in addition to other duties. Otherwise, conflicting priorities could result in the DPO’s duties being neglected. Having sufficient time to devote to DPO tasks is paramount. It is a good practice to establish a percentage of time for the DPO function where it is not performed on a full-time basis. It is also good practice to determine the time needed to carry out the function, the appropriate level of priority for DPO duties, and for the DPO (or the organisation) to draw up a work plan.

• Adequate support in terms of financial resources, infrastructure (premises, facilities, equipment) and staff where appropriate.

• Official communication of the designation of the DPO to all staff to ensure that their existence and function areknown within the organisation.

• Necessary access to other services, such as Human Resources, legal, IT, security,etc., so that DPOs can receive essential support, input and information from those other services

• Continuous training. DPOs must be given the opportunity to stay up to date with regard to developments withinthe field ofdata protection. The aim should be to constantly increase the level of expertise of DPOs and they should be encouraged to participate in training courses on data protection and other forms of professional development, such as participation in privacy fora, workshops, etc.

• Given the size and structure of the organisation, it may be necessary to set up a DPO team (a DPO and his/her staff). In such cases, the internal structure of the team and the tasks and responsibilities of each of its members should be clearly drawn up. Similarly, when the function of the DPO is exercised by an external service provider, a team of individuals working for that entity may effectively carry out the tasks of a DPO as a team, under the responsibility of a designated lead contact for the client.

In general, the more complex and/or sensitive the processing operations, the more resources must be given to the DPO. The data protection function must be effective and sufficiently well-resourced in relation to the data processing being carried out.