The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which reinforces their common mission to uphold individuals’ data protection and privacy rights, and cooperate internationally to achieve this goal.
The MoU builds on the strong collaboration already established in other forums that both authorities mutually participate in, such as the Global Privacy Assembly and the G7 Data Protection Authorities Roundtable.
The MoU sets out how the authorities will continue to share experiences and best practices; cooperate on specific projects of interest; share information or intelligence to support their regulatory work; and, promote dialogue among data protection authorities and other digital regulators.
John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner, said:
“Today’s MoU formalises the existing and ongoing collaboration between my office and the EDPS. We’ll continue to work together both bilaterally, and in other international groups, to find pragmatic solutions to ensure that organisations are supported and aware of their data protection, while upholding people’s information rights.”
Wojciech Wiewiórowski, European Data Protection Supervisor, said:
“This MoU aims to further strengthen the EDPS and ICO’s joint commitment to ensure a consistent and coherent approach to the protection of individuals’ rights to privacy and data protection. This document maps out concretely how both of our authorities, with our respective experiences and knowledge, plan to prioritise individuals’ fundamental rights across the EU and the UK.”
The MoU will not involve the sharing of personal data and is in line with the ICO’s legal responsibilities. It fits firmly with the UK commitment to protect the personal data of its citizens, while enabling the opportunities of digital innovation.
