Data Protection Officer

Finding an employee to perform the function of Data Protection Officer (DPO) who meets the requirements of expertise and reliability is often not easy. In addition, the limited time available to an internal data protection officer, who may also have other duties, and the fact that the data protection officer, as an employee acting as the company’s DPO, enjoys special protection and independence from instructions, can pose significant challenges for many institutions.

Furthermore, in addition to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), there are now many accompanying laws, such as national data protection acts, the Research Organisation Act and various other sector-specific regulations that either specify the GDPR in greater detail or exist alongside it. It is difficult to concentrate such knowledge in one person, let alone find a suitable substitute for that person. Given the sensitivity of this subject, a data protection officer should be available on a daily basis.

From experience, we know that, especially due to the high administrative fines that may be imposed by data protection authorities, requirements such as maintaining a record of processing activities, handling personal and sensitive data carefully, and complying with data subject rights and data breach obligations pose major challenges.

As an external data protection officer, we stand by your side as a competent and reliable partner in overcoming these challenges. In this context, we not only provide professional expertise, but are also happy to take on operational and coordinating tasks in the field of data protection compliance. All of this is structured flexibly and precisely according to the needs of your institution. This is another advantage of an external data protection officer: we only become active when there is a need.

For example, if you wish to handle the protection of data subject rights yourself, we can support you only when required. Likewise, when creating data protection policies, we can either provide advisory support only or draft comprehensive privacy notices for you. If you wish to use our services only in emergencies, such as data breaches in which personal data or even sensitive data is disclosed to unauthorised third parties, this is also possible.

Our law firms have extensive international experience with the problems companies often face in the field of data protection law. We always strive to offer constructive, creative and, above all, practicable solutions that continue to enable optimal economic activity. In doing so, we do not take a purely legal approach; practical implementation is also at the forefront of our work. Thanks to our many years of experience, we can often immediately understand your requirements. Due to the number and diversity of our clients, we have built up broad expertise in the fields of data protection and IT law. All lawyers working with us have experience and specialisation in data protection law and are also technically proficient, enabling them to address this complex subject comprehensively.