Data Protection Officer (DPO)

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Data Protection Officer (DPO)

What does Data Protection Officer (DPO)?

The Data Protection Officer (DPO) of a public authority or a company is responsible for the legal and technical aspects of data protection. A DPO may only be appointed if they have the appropriate professional qualifications (e.g. a lawyer), the ability to perform their duties and sufficient expertise in the areas of data protection law and data protection practice, and if there is no conflict of interest. Conflicts of interest may potentially arise in the following cases, e.g. the DPO would have to monitor himself in a dual function, so that the relevant persons cannot be appointed as DPOs on a regular basis:

- Members of the management/authority management

- Head of department

- Money laundering officer

- Works council/staff council members (disputed)

- external IT service providers

- Auditor

- Tax consultant

- Information Security Officer

Practical example

If a company commissions an external service provider with data processing, this service provider is referred to as the Data Protection Officer (DPO) and a corresponding contract is concluded.

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