| ICT Recht

What is a DPO?

A DPO, or privacy officer, is a privacy expert who independently advises and reports on compliance with privacy laws – first and foremost, the GDPR (if you are located in the EU).

When are you legally required to appoint a DPO?

Appointing a DPO is compulsory under the GDPR if:

• You are a public authority or a governmental agency;
• You are engaged in regular and systematic monitoring of people’s activities on a large scale; or
• You process sensitive personal data (such as medical records) on a large scale.

What are the benefits of appointing a DPO?

Appointing a DPO may be invaluable for your organisation, even if you are not obligated to do so. DPOs help organisations comply with privacy regulations, prevent personal data breaches, and take the required steps in the event of an unavoidable breach. Moreover, a DPO can help significantly reduce your organisation’s risk of fines and civil liabilities due to privacy violations.

Furthermore, a DPO can help improve your organisation’s relationship with both customers and employees, by ensuring that their privacy is appropriately safeguarded.

What are the benefits of hiring an external DPO?

A DPO can be appointed either internally (an employee) or externally (an independent service provider). However, it is important to be aware that the DPO must be sufficiently independent and free of any real or perceived conflicts of interest. For example, appointing a person from HR or a security officer as DPO is generally not advised. Appointing an external DPO can help ensure that the DPO is sufficiently independent.

Hiring a DPO from Legal ICT

If you would like to appoint an external DPO, you may consider hiring a DPO via Legal ICT.

We offer two possibilities:

• A virtual DPO: We are your virtual DPO and ensure that your organisation complies with all the relevant privacy laws remotely. You decide the extent to which you want to make use of our services; the hours are flexible. This service is available from €950 per month (excluding VAT). This DPO will be registered with the relevant supervisory authority.
• An in-house DPO: Does your organisation need in-house support? Legal ICT provides a qualified DPO for your organisation on secondment. This service ensures that relevant expert knowledge is always available within your company. The number of hours is also flexible, starting from 8 hours per week. We can provide a quote for this service at any time. This DPO will be registered with the relevant supervisory authority.

What a DPO from Legal ICT can do for your organisation

Our DPOs are members of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) and Certified Information Privacy Professionals/Europe (CIPP/E). This helps ensure that your organisation will have up-to-date and specialised privacy knowledge available at all times.

Our DPOs can help your organisation by carrying out the following tasks, among others:

• Improving privacy awareness within your organisation;
• Providing guidance and training to help employees follow privacy rules;
• Monitoring compliance and advising about related risks;
• Drafting or reviewing legally required privacy documents, such as privacy statements, data protection impact assessments (DPIAs), and data processing agreements; and
• Serving as a contact point for supervisory authorities and data subjects.

WOULD YOU LIKE MORE INFORMATION? 

Send an e-mail to info@legalict.com or call us on +32 (0)2 535 77 55. Alternatively, you can fill out the form below. One of our legal advisors will get back to you very soon.