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Single point of contact Free Flow of Non-Personal Data

The Regulation (EU) 2018/1807 on a Framework for the Free Flow of Non-Personal Data in the European Union is applicable since 28 May 2019 and it represents another step towards removing all unnecessary barriers to free flow of data in the EU.

    • This Regulation aims to ensure the free flow of data other than personal data within the Union by laying down rules relating to data localisation requirements, the availability of data to competent authorities and the porting of data for professional users.

      The Regulation seeks to remove all unjustified data localisation requirements which might be contained in national legislation or administrative practices and would hamper or prevent non personal data from being moved to the territory of other Member State. In exceptional cases, EU countries may still be able to restrict the movement of certain data, but only if justified on the grounds of public security.

      Given that this Regulation applies to non-personal data, it is important to understand what the difference between this type of data and personal data actually is. 

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      Personal data is any information about an identified or identifiable person and follows the General Data Protection Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2016/679, (“GDPR”).

    •  Non-personal datasets refer to:

      • Data which does not relate to an identified or identifiable natural person, such as aggregate and anonymised datasets used for big data, analytics, data on precision farming that can help to monitor and optimise the use of pesticides and water, data on maintenance needs for industrial machines, or data on weather conditions;
      • Data which was initially personal data, but was later made anonymous and cannot be attributed in any way to a specific person.
    • In the case of a data set composed of both personal and non-personal data, this Regulation Regulation applies to the non-personal data part of the data set.

      However, oftentimes personal and non-personal data in a data set are inextricably linked, such is the case for a company’s tax record, mentioning the name and telephone number of the managing director of the company. In most cases of mixed datasets, which are inextricably linked, you must follow GDPR rules.

      Here you'll find more information about the Regulation 2018/1807 on a Framework for the Free Flow of Non-Personal Data.

    • Procedure for cooperation between authorities of the Member States

      The regulation contains rules on data sharing with competent authorities. Data must be made available if a competent authority makes a legitimate request to access your data, even if the data is managed or stored in another EU country. Regarding the cross-border aspect, the regulation contains a specific procedure for cooperation between authorities in article 7.

       Where a competent authority in one Member State requests assistance from another Member State in order to obtain access to data pursuant to this Regulation, it can submit, through a designated single point of contact, a duly justified request to the latter's designated single point of contact, which should include a written explanation of the reasons and the legal bases for seeking access to the data.

      The single point of contact designated by the Member State whose assistance is requested should facilitate the transmission of the request to the relevant competent authority in the requested Member State.

      In order to ensure effective cooperation, the authority to which a request is transmitted should, without undue delay, provide assistance in response to a given request or provide information on difficulties experienced in fulfilling such request, or on its grounds for refusing it.

  • Single point of contact

    The Federal Public Service of Policy & Support serves as a national point of contact for requests to obtain access to data pursuant to the Regulation 2018/1807 and shall liaise with the single points of contact of other Member States and the Commission regarding the application of this Regulation.

    The Federal Public Service of Policy & Support transmits data requests from competent authorities in other EU countries to relevant competent authorities in Belgium.

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