European Union: EDPB opens public consultation on draft guidelines on codes of conduct as tools for transfers

On 7 July 2021, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) adopted the draft guidelines 04/2021 on Codes of Conduct as tools for transfers and opened a public consultation on the draft on 14 July 2021. The stakeholders are invited to submit their comments until 1 October 2021. The guidelines outline the conditions for transferring personal data to countries outside the European Union (EU) based on a code of conduct. Furthermore, it provides clarifications regarding the role of the actors involved in the development of a code of conduct. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) allows industry associations to create a code of conduct that consists of specific rules for a certain industry sector, but the European Commission must declare it generally applicable. The code of conduct that was validated by the Commission can be used by controllers, processors and companies that are not subject to the GDPR to ensure that the necessary safeguards are in place to protect the data transferred to a third country.