Pass the IAPP Certified Information Privacy Professional CIPP-E Questions and answers with ExamsMirror

Article 9 of the GDPR prohibits the processing of special category data, which includes biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person1. However, there are 10 exceptions to this general prohibition, usually referred to as ‘conditions for processing special category data’2. These are:

(a) Explicit consent

(b) Employment, social security and social protection (if authorised by law)

© Vital interests

(d) Not-for-profit bodies

(e) Made public by the data subject

(f) Legal claims and judicial acts

(g) Substantial public interest conditions

(h) Health or social care

(i) Public health

(j) Archiving, research and statistics

Option A is not one of these exceptions, and therefore it is not a valid reason to process biometric data under Article 9. Option B, C and D are all valid exceptions, as they correspond to conditions ©, (f) and (a) respectively. Therefore, the correct answer is A.

References:

4: Art. 9 GDPR Processing of special categories of personal data

6: What are the rules on special category data? | ICO

The GDPR applies to the processing of personal data in the context of the activities of an establishment of a controller or a processor in the EU, regardless of whether the processing takes place in the EU or not. The GDPR also applies to the processing of personal data of data subjects who are in the EU by a controller or processor not established in the EU, where the processing activities are related to the offering of goods or services to such data subjects in the EU or the monitoring of their behaviour as far as their behaviour takes place within the EU1. Therefore, after leaving the EU under the terms of Brexit, the UK became a third country for the purposes of the GDPR, meaning that personal data transfers from the EU to the UK are subject to the rules on international data transfers under Chapter V of the GDPR2. In order to ensure the continuity and stability of data flows between the EU and the UK, the UK sought an adequacy decision from the European Commission, which is a formal recognition that a third country provides an equivalent level of data protection to that of the EU3. On 28 June 2021, the European Commission adopted two adequacy decisions in respect of the UK: one for transfers under the GDPR and the other for transfers under the Law Enforcement Directive (LED)4. These decisions allow personal data to flow freely from the EU to the UK without any further safeguard being necessary, and are expected to last until 27 June 2025, unless they are amended, suspended or repealed earlier5. References:

GDPR, Article 3

GDPR, Chapter V

Data protection adequacy for non-EU countries, section “Adequacy decisions”

UK government welcomes the European Commission’s draft data adequacy decisions

Adequacy, section “What does the EU GDPR adequacy decision say?”

The GDPR applies to all personal data, regardless of whether it exists in physical form or not. The GDPR defines personal data as any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, such as names, identification numbers, location data, or online identifiers1. Therefore, any information that can be linked directly or indirectly to a natural person is considered personal data under the GDPR.

However, the GDPR also distinguishes between different types of processing activities and their legal bases. Processing activities are the operations performed on personal data, such as collection, storage, use, disclosure, or deletion. Processing activities can be either automated or manual. Automated processing means using technology to perform processing activities without human intervention. Manual processing means using human intervention to perform processing activities.

The GDPR requires that any processing activity that involves personal data must comply with certain principles and conditions, such as lawfulness, fairness, transparency, purpose limitation, data minimization, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity and confidentiality. These principles and conditions apply to both automated and manual processing activities.

Therefore, the GDPR applies to personal data that exists in physical form only when it is processed by an automated means in some way that affects its rights and freedoms. For example, if a company scans paper documents and stores them electronically in a database without deleting them after a certain period of time or when they are no longer needed for the original purpose for which they were collected (Article 6), then this would be considered an automated processing activity that involves personal data in physical form.

However, the GDPR does not apply to personal data that exists in physical form when it is handled in a sufficiently structured manner so as to form part of a filing system. For example, if a company keeps paper documents in folders labeled with names and dates on their office shelves without scanning them or storing them electronically anywhere else (Article 5), then this would not be considered an automated processing activity that involves personal data in physical form.

References:

Physical Data - GDPR Summary

What GDPR Means for Your Physical Records - Access

Personal Data - Data Protection Act 2018

Consent is one of the legal bases for processing personal data under the GDPR, but it must meet certain conditions to be valid. According to Article 4(11) of the GDPR, consent means “any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject’s wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her.” In this scenario, consent would not be considered an adequate legal basis for accessing the party zone, because it is not freely given. Freely given consent means that the data subject has a genuine and free choice to agree or disagree to the processing, and that there is no detriment, coercion, or significant negative consequences if the data subject does not consent. However, in this case, the consent is conditional on accessing the party zone, which is the main purpose of the event. Therefore, the data subject does not have a real choice, and may feel pressured or obliged to consent in order to participate in the event. This violates the principle of free consent, and could invalidate the consent as a legal basis.

References:

•GDPR Article 4 - Definitions1

•GDPR Article 7 - Conditions for consent2

•Guidelines 05/2020 on consent under Regulation 2016/6793

 A data protection impact assessment (DPIA) is a process to identify and minimise the data protection risks of a project that is likely to result in a high risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals1. The GDPR requires controllers to conduct a DPIA before starting such processing activities1. In this case, Building Block should have done a DPIA before implementing the SecurityScan measure, as it involves the monitoring of employees’ computers, which could affect their privacy and other fundamental rights2. A DPIA would help Building Block to assess the necessity, proportionality and compliance measures of the SecurityScan measure, as well as to identify and mitigate the risks to the employees and to consult with the relevant stakeholders, such as the data protection officer, the employees themselves, and the supervisory authorities12. The other options are not the first step that Building Block should have done, as they either follow or depend on the outcome of the DPIA. References: Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) - GDPR.eu, Data protection impact assessments | ICO

Article 30 of the GDPR requires controllers and processors to maintain records of their processing activities, which include information such as the purposes of the processing, the categories of personal data, the recipients of the data, the retention periods, and the security measures12. However, Article 30 does not require controllers to keep records of incidents of personal data breaches, whether disclosed or not. This is a separate obligation under Article 33 and Article 34, which require controllers to notify the supervisory authority and the data subjects of any personal data breach, unless the breach is unlikely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of natural persons34. References: 1: Article 30 of the GDPR 2: What do we need to document under Article 30 of the UK GDPR? | ICO 3: Article 33 of the GDPR 4: Article 34 of the GDPR

Section: (none)

Explanation

A data breach is broadly defined as any incident that leads to the unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction of personal data. While options A and B might seem plausible at first glance, they focus on a narrow interpretation of a breach.

The key here is the loss of confidentiality and/or integrity. Even though no one has actively stolen the data, the bank can no longer guarantee the confidentiality of the information, nor can it ensure the integrity of the data since it cannot be accessed or modified securely. This constitutes a loss of control over the data and thus qualifies as a data breach.

References:

IAPP CIPP/E textbook, Chapter 5: Data Breach Notification (specifically, the definition of a personal data breach)

GDPR Article 4(12) - Definition of a personal data breach

According to Article 3 of the GDPR, the regulation applies to the processing of personal data in the context of the activities of an establishment of a controller or a processor in the EU, regardless of whether the processing takes place in the EU or not. The regulation also applies to the processing of personal data of data subjects who are in the EU by a controller or processor not established in the EU, where the processing activities are related to the offering of goods or services to such data subjects in the EU or the monitoring of their behaviour as far as their behaviour takes place within the EU. In this case, MagicClean is a controller not established in the EU, and it does not offer services to EU data subjects or monitor their behaviour. Therefore, MagicClean is not subject to the GDPR, even if it uses a processor located in France to optimize its data. The location of the processor does not determine the applicability of the GDPR, but the context of the activities of the controller or the processor and the relationship with the data subjects. References:

Article 3 of the GDPR

IAPP CIPP/E Study Guide, page 14

The GDPR requires that data subjects are provided with certain information when their personal data are collected, either from the data subject themselves or from another source12. This information includes, among other things, the identity and contact details of the controller (and, where applicable, of the controller’s representative and the data protection officer), and the purposes of the processing for which the personal data are intended as well as the legal basis for the processing34. This information is necessary to ensure fair and transparent processing of personal data, and to enable data subjects to exercise their rights under the GDPR5. Therefore, option C is the correct answer, as it contains two of the essential pieces of information that must be provided to data subjects before collecting their personal data. Options A, B and D are incorrect, as they do not include all the required information or include information that is not mandatory. References: 1: Article 13 of the GDPR 2: Article 14 of the GDPR 3: Article 13(1)(a) and © of the GDPR 4: Article 14(1)(a) and © of the GDPR 5: Recital 60 of the GDPR