In 2006, the Council of Europe launched a Data Protection Day to be celebrated each year on 28 January.
In January 2017, the Commission adopted a Communication on the international aspects of privacy, which set out the EU strategy in the field of international data flows and protection. The adoption of the mutual EU-Japan adequacy decision is an important result of this strategy. It has created the world’s largest area of free and safe data flows. The Commission’s negotiations on adequacy decisions with South Korea and the United Kingdom are at an advanced stage. Furthermore, the Commission is in the process of adopting modernised Standard Contractual Clauses that are the transfer mechanism most used by EU companies.
The General Data Protection Regulation applies in all Member States since 25 May 2018. In June 2020, the European Commission published an evaluation report on the GDPR, showing that it has met most of its objectives, in particular by offering citizens a strong set of enforceable rights, by providing businesses opportunities to make the most of the digital revolution and by creating a new European system of governance and enforcement.
For further information on Data Protection Day click here.
Source: www.coe.int