Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information

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Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information
- BfDI -

logo
State level Federation
position Supreme Federal Authority (since January 1, 2016)
founding January 1, 1978
Headquarters Bonn , North Rhine-Westphalia
Authority management Ulrich Kelber
Servants 320.5
Web presence www.bfdi.bund.de

The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information ( BfDI ) is an independent, supreme federal authority for data protection and freedom of information . Your seat is Bonn in the district Castell .

position

The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information is an independent data protection authority in accordance with Art. 51 Paragraph 1 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In this function in the federal system of Germany according to Section 9 of the Federal Data Protection Act (BDSG), he is responsible for monitoring data protection at federal public agencies and at companies that provide telecommunications and postal services. Since the Federal Freedom of Information Act came into force on January 1, 2006, he has also been the Federal Commissioner for Freedom of Information. His previous title was Federal Commissioner for Data Protection (BfD) . It prepares an annual activity report. The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information is proposed by the Federal Government and elected by the German Bundestag . The term of office is five years. He can be re-elected once ( Section 11 BDSG). During his tenure he receives Official remuneration of a federal officials of the Grade B 11 entitled grade ( § 12 Act). He is in a public office, but not in a civil service. The BfDI can levy fees in accordance with the BMI's Special Fees Ordinance.

The Federal Commissioner has the right to refuse to testify with regard to persons and facts with which he comes into contact in his capacity as Federal Commissioner ( Section 13 (3) BDSG). He can also decide whether his employees refuse to testify.

The Federal Commissioner has been an independent supreme federal authority since January 1, 2016 . It was previously set up at the Federal Ministry of the Interior , but was not part of its subordinate business area, but had a special administrative and organizational position, as otherwise federal ministries would not have been able to monitor data protection law. It was subject to the legal supervision of the Federal Government and the official supervision of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. After the European Court of Justice ruled that these forms of supervision are not compatible with independence, the BDSG was changed. Since the change in law came into force on January 1, 2016, the Federal Commissioner is no longer subject to supervision .

The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information is completely independent in the exercise of his office. At the suggestion of the President of the Bundestag , he will be removed from his office by the Federal President if he has committed serious misconduct or if he no longer meets the requirements for performing his duties. The budget of the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information is shown in a separate section (section 21 of the federal budget ). Its legal status is thus very similar to the Federal Audit Office .

The office of Federal Commissioner has been exercised by Ulrich Kelber since January 7, 2019 .

tasks

The tasks of the Federal Commissioner are divided into the two areas of data protection and freedom of information.

privacy

The Federal Commissioner monitors compliance with data protection at federal authorities , other public bodies of the federal government as well as telecommunications and postal service companies and enforces this (Art. 57 GDPR, Section 14 BDSG). He also controls compliance with data protection when carrying out security reviews in accordance with the Federal Security Review Act (SÜG), also as far as they affect private companies . In addition, he has various tasks to sensitize the public and the bodies subject to his supervision and in his area of ​​responsibility processes complaints about assumed violations of data protection or the right to access information.

Its duties do not include data protection supervision in the general private sector; the supervisory authorities of the federal states are responsible for this ( Section 40 BDSG). With the exception of Bavaria, this task is assigned to the state commissioners for data protection , who are also responsible for data protection supervision over the authorities and public bodies of the states.

The Federal Data Protection Commissioner is a member of the conference of independent data protection authorities of the federal and state governments . He is the joint representative of the German data protection authorities in the European Data Protection Committee and represents Germany together with the supervisory authorities of the federal states in the European and international conferences of data protection and freedom of information officers. He is also involved in the joint data protection supervisory bodies for Europol and the Schengen Information System (SIS).

Some figures: In addition to the 28 supreme federal authorities (22 supreme authorities + six courts) with their authorities and facilities belonging to the division, 228 foreign representations of the Federal Foreign Office are also subject to data protection control by the BfDI, as well as 149 federal social insurance agencies and their central associations as well as 303 joint facilities pursuant to Section 50 Paragraph 2 SGB II (job center). Since May 25, 2018, the data protection supervision of the 26 state tax authorities including the 535 tax offices and parts of the 11,000 municipal tax offices has been the responsibility of the BfDI. In addition, the BfDI also monitors compliance with data protection regulations by providers of postal and telecommunications services. Until the application of the GDPR, this included approx. 3,500 telecommunications and approx. 1,000 postal service providers, and since May 25, 2018 also the approx. 60,000 unlicensed postal service providers.

No public figures are available for the supervised / controlled federal agencies in the areas of sabotage protection and confidentiality, as well as for the companies that are subject to the Security Review Act.

Freedom of information

According to Section 12 (1) of the Freedom of Information Act, the Federal Commissioner for Freedom of Information can be called upon by anyone "if he considers his right to access information under this Act [IFG] to be violated." The BfDI's option, however, only extends to mediation and complaints, but not on the release of the information. In addition, the involvement of the BfDI does not prevent any deadlines for legal remedies .

The Freedom of Information Commissioner is a member of the Conference of Freedom of Information Commissioners in Germany .

Every 2 years the BfDI presents an activity report on freedom of information, which is presented to the German Bundestag. So far 6 reports have appeared.

"Access for one - access for all"

Under the motto "Access for one - access for all" (in German: Access for one - access for all ), the BfDI is gradually publishing speeches, lectures and documents that have already been requested by citizens.

organization

The office of the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information is divided into four departments in addition to the management staff, each of which includes up to six specialist units :

The BfDI is based in Bonn. A liaison office has been set up in Berlin.

Furthermore, the BfDI is the central contact point (ZASt) of the German data protection authorities in European matters.

The activity report

The activity report (TB) of the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information is an annual report in accordance with Art. 59 GDPR and Section 15 BDSG to inform the German Bundestag , the Bundesrat , the Federal Government and the public , which provides information on the main developments in data protection and may contain a list of sanctions and measures imposed. The report must also be made available to the European Commission and the European Data Protection Board. It appears as a Bundestag printed matter and is also available as a PDF on the BfDI website.

The Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (from January 1, 2006)

Ulrich Kelber Andrea Voßhoff Peter Schaar Joachim Jacob Alfred Einwag Reinhold Baumann Hans Peter Bull

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Federal Budget 2020 - Section 21 Federal Ministry of Finance, accessed on August 26, 2020 (overview of positions / positions, page 18f).
  2. ↑ BMIBGebV - Special Fee Ordinance of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, for Building and Home Affairs for individually attributable public services in its area of ​​responsibility. Retrieved April 12, 2020 .
  3. ↑ European Court of Justice : C-518/07
  4. ↑ Amendment of § 22 BDSG through Article 1 of the law of February 25, 2015 ( BGBl. 2015 I p. 162 , PDF)
  5. ↑ Malte Kröger: “Completely independent” - completely inadequate? In: JuWiss blog. Young Science in Public Law eV, September 12, 2014, accessed on July 22, 2017 : "After Germany was condemned by the European Court of Justice for the lack of independence of its data protection authorities, a draft law by the federal government should now ensure independent and effective control of data protection."
  6. ↑ Internet presence of the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information - activity reports. Retrieved August 10, 2019 .
  7. ↑ Leon Kaiser: Federal Data Protection Commissioner: If someone has a document, everyone should have it. In: netzpolitik.org. August 7, 2019, accessed on August 10, 2019 (German).
  8. ^ Organization of the BfDI. Retrieved December 11, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Internet presence of the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information - Organization. September 14, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Central contact point (ZASt)
  11. ^ Stenographic report of the 68th meeting. (PDF) 19th German Bundestag. In: DIP . German Bundestag, November 29, 2018, p. 7784 A , accessed on January 18, 2019 (plenary minutes 19/68): "Vice-President Thomas Oppermann: [...] I would like to state that the deputy Kelber according to § 11 Paragraph 1 of the Federal Data Protection Act for Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information has been elected. "
  12. ↑ Axel Rahmlow: Data protection officer on data security - data protection “is essential” for our democracy. In: deutschlandfunkkultur.de. Deutschlandfunk Kultur , January 7, 2019, accessed on January 11, 2019 ( MP3 version ).

Coordinates: 50 ° 44 '53.2 "  N , 7 ° 5' 47"  E