Helping Hand Questions for CIPP-E

According to Article 45 of the GDPR, the European Commission has the power to determine, on the basis of an assessment, whether a non-EU country, a territory or a sector within that country, or an international organisation ensures an adequate level of data protection. This means that the data protection rules and standards in that country or organisation are equivalent to those in the EU. The effect of an adequacy decision is that personal data can flow freely from the EU to that country or organisation without any further safeguards or authorisations. The European Commission has adopted adequacy decisions for several countries and organisations, such as Japan, Canada, and the EU-US Data Privacy Framework. References: Data protection adequacy for non-EU countries, Adequate Level of Protection

 According to the CIPP/E study guide, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in the case of Google Spain SL, Google Inc. v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD), Mario Costeja González1 that an Internet search engine operator is responsible for the processing of personal data that appear on web pages published by third parties, and that such operator must comply with the EU data protection law when it has an establishment in the EU. The CJEU held that Google Spain and Google Inc. were inextricably linked in their businesses, since Google Spain promoted and sold advertising space offered by Google Inc., which oriented its activity towards the inhabitants of Spain. Therefore, Google Inc. was subject to the EU data protection law through its subsidiary Google Spain, even though the personal data processing was carried out by Google Inc. outside the EU. This implies that search engines outside the EEA are also likely to be subject to the Regulation’s right to be forgotten if they have an establishment in the EU that is inextricably linked to their parent company. References: 1: CIPP/E study guide, page 16; Google Spain v AEPD and Mario Costeja González

 According to the EDPB guidelines on the concepts of controller and processor in the GDPR1, joint controllers are entities that jointly determine the purposes and means of the processing of personal data. Joint controllership can result from a common decision or from converging decisions that are necessary for the processing to take place. Joint controllers must have a transparent arrangement that sets out their respective roles and responsibilities, and must ensure that individuals can exercise their rights against each controller. In this scenario, Gellcoat and Freifish are joint controllers with respect to the personal data related to the event, because they both decided to share data from their client databases, to come up with a list of people to invite, to agree on the content of the invitations, and to build an app to gather feedback. These decisions are joint and inseparable, and they have a tangible impact on the determination of the purposes and means of the processing. However, Gellcoat and Freifish are separate controllers for their other purposes, such as maintaining their own client databases, marketing their own products, or complying with their own legal obligations. These purposes are independent and separate from the joint purpose of organizing the event. Therefore, option A is the correct answer. Option B is incorrect because joint controllership does not depend on the merging of databases or the ownership of data, but on the joint determination of purposes and means. Option C is incorrect because joint controllership does not require a written designation in a contract, but can be inferred from the factual circumstances. Option D is incorrect because separate controllers and processors have different roles and responsibilities under the GDPR, and Gellcoat and Freifish do not act as processors for each other. References:

• Guidelines 07/2020 on the concepts of controller and processor in the GDPR
• What does it mean if you are joint controllers?
• What’s New in the EDPB’s Draft Guidelines on Controllers and Processors under the GDPR