If a recipient country lacks any meaningful data protection laws (see Article 45), GDPR Article 47 allows organisations to adopt binding corporate rules, that act as an appropriate safeguard towards any data that is to be transferred.
Binding Corporate Rules
- The competent supervisory authority shall approve binding corporate rules in accordance with the consistency mechanism set out in Article 63, provided that they:
- (a) are legally binding and apply to and are enforced by every member concerned of the group of undertakings, or group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity, including their employees;
- (b) expressly confer enforceable rights on data subjects with regard to the processing of their personal data; and
- (c) fulfil the requirements laid down in paragraph 2.
- The binding corporate rules referred to in paragraph 1 shall specify at least:
- (a) the structure and contact details of the group of undertakings, or group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity and of each of its members;
- (b) the data transfers or set of transfers, including the categories of personal data, the type of processing and its purposes, the type of data subjects affected and the identification of the third country or countries in question;
- (c) their legally binding nature, both internally and externally;
- (d) the application of the general data protection principles, in particular purpose limitation, data minimisation, limited storage periods, data quality, data protection by design and by default, legal basis for processing, processing of special categories of personal data, measures to ensure data security, and the requirements in respect of onward transfers to bodies not bound by the binding corporate rules;
- (e) the rights of data subjects in regard to processing and the means to exercise those rights, including the right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing, including profiling in accordance with Article 22, the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority and before the competent courts of the Member States in accordance with Article 79, and to obtain redress and, where appropriate, compensation for a breach of the binding corporate rules;
- (f) the acceptance by the controller or processor established on the territory of a Member State of liability for any breaches of the binding corporate rules by any member concerned not established in the Union; the controller or the processor shall be exempt from that liability, in whole or in part, only if it proves that that member is not responsible for the event giving rise to the damage;
- (g) how the information on the binding corporate rules, in particular on the provisions referred to in points (d), (e) and (f) of this paragraph is provided to the data subjects in addition to Articles 13 and 14;
- (h) the tasks of any data protection officer designated in accordance with Article 37 or any other person or entity in charge of the monitoring compliance with the binding corporate rules within the group of undertakings, or group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity, as well as monitoring training and complaint-handling;
- (i) the complaint procedures;
- (j) the mechanisms within the group of undertakings, or group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity for ensuring the verification of compliance with the binding corporate rules. Such mechanisms shall include data protection audits and methods for ensuring corrective actions to protect the rights of the data subject. Results of such verification should be communicated to the person or entity referred to in point (h) and to the board of the controlling undertaking of a group of undertakings, or of the group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity, and should be available upon request to the competent supervisory authority;
- (k) the mechanisms for reporting and recording changes to the rules and reporting those changes to the supervisory authority;
- (l) the cooperation mechanism with the supervisory authority to ensure compliance by any member of the group of undertakings, or group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity, in particular by making available to the supervisory authority the results of verifications of the measures referred to in point (j);
- (m) the mechanisms for reporting to the competent supervisory authority any legal requirements to which a member of the group of undertakings, or group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity is subject in a third country which are likely to have a substantial adverse effect on the guarantees provided by the binding corporate rules; and
- (n) the appropriate data protection training to personnel having permanent or regular access to personal data.
- The Commission may specify the format and procedures for the exchange of information between controllers, processors and supervisory authorities for binding corporate rules within the meaning of this Article. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure set out in Article 93(2).
Binding Corporate Rules
- The Commissioner shall approve binding corporate rules, provided that they:
- (a) are legally binding and apply to and are enforced by every member concerned of the group of undertakings, or group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity, including their employees;
- (b) expressly confer enforceable rights on data subjects with regard to the processing of their personal data; and
- (c) fulfil the requirements laid down in paragraph 2.
- The binding corporate rules referred to in paragraph 1 shall specify at least:
- (a) the structure and contact details of the group of undertakings, or group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity and of each of its members;
- (b) the data transfers or set of transfers, including the categories of personal data, the type of processing and its purposes, the type of data subjects affected and the identification of the third country or countries in question;
- (c) their legally binding nature, both internally and externally;
- (d) the application of the general data protection principles, in particular purpose limitation, data minimisation, limited storage periods, data quality, data protection by design and by default, legal basis for processing, processing of special categories of personal data, measures to ensure data security, and the requirements in respect of onward transfers to bodies not bound by the binding corporate rules;
- (e) the rights of data subjects in regard to processing and the means to exercise those rights, including the right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing, including profiling in accordance with Article 22, the Commissioner and before a court in accordance with Article 79 (see section 180 of the 2018 Act), and to obtain redress and, where appropriate, compensation for a breach of the binding corporate rules;
- (f) the acceptance by the controller or processor established in the United Kingdom of liability for any breaches of the binding corporate rules by any member concerned not established in the United Kingdom; the controller or the processor shall be exempt from that liability, in whole or in part, only if it proves that that member is not responsible for the event giving rise to the damage;
- (g) how the information on the binding corporate rules, in particular on the provisions referred to in points (d), (e) and (f) of this paragraph is provided to the data subjects in addition to Articles 13 and 14;
- (h) the tasks of any data protection officer designated in accordance with Article 37 or any other person or entity in charge of the monitoring compliance with the binding corporate rules within the group of undertakings, or group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity, as well as monitoring training and complaint-handling;
- (i) the complaint procedures;
- (j) the mechanisms within the group of undertakings, or group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity for ensuring the verification of compliance with the binding corporate rules. Such mechanisms shall include data protection audits and methods for ensuring corrective actions to protect the rights of the data subject. Results of such verification should be communicated to the person or entity referred to in point (h) and to the board of the controlling undertaking of a group of undertakings, or of the group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity, and should be available upon request to the Commissioner;
- (k) the mechanisms for reporting and recording changes to the rules and reporting those changes to the Commissioner;
- (l) the cooperation mechanism with the supervisory authority to ensure compliance by any member of the group of undertakings, or group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity, in particular by making available to the Commissioner the results of verifications of the measures referred to in point (j);
- (m) the mechanisms for reporting to the Commissioner any legal requirements to which a member of the group of undertakings, or group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity is subject in a third country which are likely to have a substantial adverse effect on the guarantees provided by the binding corporate rules; and
- (n) the appropriate data protection training to personnel having permanent or regular access to personal data.
Binding corporate rules must:
In this section we talk about GDPR Articles 47 (1)(a), 47 (1)(b), 47 (1)(c), 47 (2)(a), 47 (2)(b), 47 (2)(c), 47 (2)(d), 47 (2)(e), 47 (2)(f), 47 (2)(g), 47 (2)(h), 47 (2)(i), 47 (2)(j), 47 (2)(k), 47 (2)(l), 47 (2)(m), 47 (2)(n) and 47 (3)
From time to time, the need may arise to transfer PII between two distinct jurisdictions. When this occurs, organisations should justify and document the need for doing so.
Regional regulatory and legal rules vary depending on where the data has originated from, and where it’s going to be transferred to.
Organisations should take all relevant laws, frameworks and regulations into account whenever they need to transfer data between jurisdictions, including the use of a designated supervisory authority.
| GDPR Article | ISO 27701 Clause | ISO 27701 Supporting Clauses |
|---|---|---|
| EU GDPR Articles 47 (1)(a) to 47 (3) | ISO 27701 7.5.1 | None |
With ISMS.online, it is easy for you to jump straight into the journey to GDPR compliance and to easily demonstrate a level of protection that extends beyond ‘reasonable’, all in one secure, always-on location that you can access from anywhere.
If at any point in your journey toward GDPR, for whatever reason, you feel a lack of confidence, ability or drive to take action, we can make our team of in-house experts available to you or recommend one of our trusted partners to assist you in achieving your goals.
Find out more by scheduling a demo.
It helps drive our behaviour in a positive way that works for us
& our culture.
