The Information Commissioner is the supervisory authority in the United Kingdom for the purposes of the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC. In this role he has a duty to exchange information with the other supervisory authorities in the EEA states and also the European Commission.
He also has a duty to help other supervisory authorities investigate complaints about the processing of personal data outside the UK where the data controller is UK based and has specific duties in relation to certain decisions he may make about the international transfer of personal data.
In addition to these duties, we help to influence the development of European policy on privacy protection issues by participation in the Article 29 Working Party established by the Directive.
Article 29 Working Party – consultation on working document 147 on the protection of children's personal data (general guidelines and the special case of schools)
Please click here for more information on this document and to contribute to the online consultation. The deadline for comments is 30 June 2008.
Leonardo da Vinci project - training project with the Polish data protection authority
The Bureau of the Inspector General for Personal Data Protection in Poland (Polish DPA) set up work placements for some of its staff where they spend time in other DPAs, and the ICO is one of several European DPAs taking part. This placement is part of a lifelong learning programme set up by the Polish DPA within the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci project. This is an EU project to support training needs and improve competitiveness in the European labour market by helping European citizens to gain new skills, knowledge and qualifications and have them recognised across borders. You can find more information about the project here.
The Polish DPA have released this statement setting out the aims of the programme.
Links to our international and European counterparts
The Article 29 Working Party is made up of representatives of the supervisory authorities of the 25 European member states. The working party provides expert opinion to the European Commission on questions of data protection, available on the Europa website.
The European Data Protection Supervisor oversees the protection of individuals' personal information in the institutions of the European Union.
The Europa website has contact details for European and International Data Protection supervisory authorities.
Passenger name records (PNR)
Article 29 Working Party opinion on the 2007 PNR agreement between the European Union and the US.
Article 29 Working Party opinion on the proposal for a Council Framework Decision on the use of PNR for law enforcement purposes.
Workshop on PNR, Swift and Safe Harbour
We took part in this workshop on Monday 26 March 2007. You can read more about it in our events archive.
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