Art. 37 Designation of the data protection officer | GDPR regulation | GDPR

This article establishes when controllers and processors are required to designate a Data Protection Officer (DPO).

It sets out three scenarios where designation is mandatory, then addresses the practical flexibility available to groups of undertakings and public bodies, the qualifications required of a DPO, how they may be engaged, and the requirement to make their contact details publicly available.

The article connects directly to Article 39, which governs the tasks the DPO must be capable of performing, and to Articles 9 and 10, which define the special categories of data whose large-scale processing triggers the obligation.

Important points:

Controllers and processors must designate a DPO if they are a public authority, carry out large-scale systematic monitoring of individuals, or process special categories of personal data on a large scale.
The DPO must be chosen on the basis of professional qualities and expert knowledge of data protection law and practices — they can be an internal staff member or engaged via a service contract.
Controllers and processors are required to publish the DPO's contact details and communicate them to the supervisory authority.

1. The controller and the processor shall designate a data protection officer in any case where:
  1. the processing is carried out by a public authority or body, except for courts acting in their judicial capacity;
  2. the core activities of the controller or the processor consist of processing operations which, by virtue of their nature, their scope and/or their purposes, require regular and systematic monitoring of data subjects on a large scale; or
  3. ▼C1ModificationCorrectedPoint (c) corrected by a corrigendum to Regulation (EU) 2016/679. Published in the Official Journal 23 May 2018.
    the core activities of the controller or the processor consist of processing on a large scale of special categories of data pursuant to Article 9 or personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences referred to in Article 10.
1. A group of undertakings may appoint a single data protection officer provided that a data protection officer is easily accessible from each establishment.
1. Where the controller or the processor is a public authority or body, a single data protection officer may be designated for several such authorities or bodies, taking account of their organisational structure and size.
1. In cases other than those referred to in paragraph 1, the controller or processor or associations and other bodies representing categories of controllers or processors may or, where required by Union or Member State law shall, designate a data protection officer. The data protection officer may act for such associations and other bodies representing controllers or processors.
1. The data protection officer shall be designated on the basis of professional qualities and, in particular, expert knowledge of data protection law and practices and the ability to fulfil the tasks referred to in Article 39.
1. The data protection officer may be a staff member of the controller or processor, or fulfil the tasks on the basis of a service contract.
1. The controller or the processor shall publish the contact details of the data protection officer and communicate them to the supervisory authority.

Article 37 Designation of the data protection officer

Relevant recitals