European Broadcasters call for more consistent interpretation and enforcement of GDPR

Two years after the entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) released a statement on the challenges ahead for an effective interpretation and enforcement of the GDPR at the EU level. The EBU Data Protection Officers group, representing data protection officers (DPOs) from EBU’s membership, calls for increased action so that stakeholders truly benefit from a level playing field when complying with the GDPR. According to EBU, this is particularly relevant when negotiating controller-processor agreements with global third parties, such as big players in the IT sector and major online platforms, which can dictate their terms to customers. In practice, business customers are confronted with a ’take it or leave it choice’ due to the significant imbalance in bargaining power in data-driven markets. This imbalance could be solved by having strong EDPB guidelines and recommendations on the notions of the ‘“processor’, on the processor-controller relationship, on ’joint-controllers’, and more generally, on how to determine the status of a service provider. Also, the most useful would be the adoption of EU-model contracts that enable organisations to jointly push back against terms they deem unfair.