2020 Annual Report Commission Supervision Personal Data Protection
The Commission Supervision Personal Data Protection Bonaire, St. Eustatius and Saba published the 2020 annual report. In the past year, besides information, the important step towards supervision and enforcement was taken. In addition, more use was made of the possibility to ask the Commission and its secretariat for advice on the application of the privacy rules.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, 2020 was not an easy year, but nevertheless, considerable steps were taken. The most important fact was the step towards supervision and enforcement, after several years of emphasis on information. The Commission has been very careful to ensure that supervision is carried out in close consultation with the organisations concerned.
The secretary of the Commission, Roëlla Pourier, explains: "Because the protection of personal data is in everyone's interest, it has also been possible to implement improvements together with the organisations concerned in proper consultation. As a result, there was fortunately no need for harsher measures in 2020." Various organisations have been busy implementing tighter privacy measures.
Enhanced advisory role for the Commission
The Commission welcomes the trend that more and more Dutch ministries ask for advice on new legislation and regulations. In the year 2020, for example, advice was given on drunk-driving and on childcare regulations. Advice has also been given to VWS (Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport) on the temporary Covid-19 measures.
The annual report clearly shows that specific attention was paid to privacy issues within the healthcare sector. Specific frameworks were provided as to when citizens are allowed to inspect the data collected (the so-called right of information). All these questions indicate that the information campaigns have had an effect on the awareness of citizens and businesses.
Clean desk and clear screen
In order to make larger organisations even more aware of the privacy policy, the Commission asked the public entities and the hospitals on the BES to draw up and implement an integral clean desk and clear screen policy. The possibility of appointing a privacy officer has also been brought to the attention. The annual report also shows that citizens and people responsible for handling personal data are increasingly finding their way to the secretariat of the Commission. In 2020, the secretariat received, both by email and in person, 18 notifications of possible violations and 42 specific questions about the processing of personal data. All these questions were answered by the secretariat. Some notifications led to direct actions. The Commission took 11 supervision and enforcement actions.
Harmonisation with other islands
In 2020, the Commission continued to strive for harmonisation between islands and countries within the Caribbean part of the Kingdom. Because of (small) differences in legislation in the area of privacy, consultation also remained an important spearhead in 2020. Roëlla Pourier: "Cooperation with the various supervisors and the Dutch Data Protection Authority remains essential in order to continue to apply the rules as unambiguously as possible."
Would you like to read the annual report? You can do so via the website: www.cbpbes.com. This year the CBP BES will continue to check whether organisations comply with the rules of the privacy legislation. If you want to know more about this then you can consult the website of the CBP BES. You can also contact Roëlla Pourier of the secretariat: info@cbpbes.com, telephone +599 7159114.