Data protection as a legal and social obligation
About us
The Association for Data Protection and Data Security (GDD) is a non-profit organisation that promotes sensible, reasonable, and technically feasible data protection.
The GDD sees itself as an organisation that represents the interests of data processing entities — especially small and medium-sized businesses — their data protection officers, and the citizens affected. Its primary focus is on promoting self-monitoring and self-regulation by companies.
The GDD advocates for feasible data protection and data security requirements.
When it comes to training and continuing education for company and public authority data protection officers, the GDD, as the proprietor of the GDDcert. (EU) certificate offers its professional recognition and the associated skills and knowledge. For over 45 years, the GDD has seen itself as an association that is constantly training and developing, with a focus on data protection expertise. This is also reflected in its own working groups and higher-level committees in which the GDD is represented. The most prominent example of this is the Confederation of European Data Protection Organisations (CEDPO), in which the GDD has been an active founding member since 2011 and which it significantly supports as part of its association work.
Facts and figures
- Founded in 1977 – over 45 years of data protection expertise
- Currently approx. 3.600 Members
- 34 collective experience groups (Erfa-Kreise) nationwide with a total of more than 5,000 participants
- Training of more than 12,000 data protection officers at the GDD Data Protection Academy
Board of Trustees
The Board of Trustees is mainly composed of representatives from academia, data protection practice, and the judiciary. This combination of theoretical expertise and practical knowledge, including application skills, serves as the foundation for effective work. To address current events in the data protection landscape, the Executive Board meets several times a year. Based on these discussions, they continuously refine the orientation and activities of the GDD. With the support of a practice-oriented board of trustees, the focus is on emerging trends and developments in the field, as well as issues arising from regulatory and court decisions or changes in legislation.
Data protection at a glance
Data protection, data security, and information security are all essential for safeguarding the interests of everyone involved in data processing. Entrepreneurs and other responsible parties must comply with legal requirements and prioritize data protection. Adhering to comprehensive data protection regulations is a crucial aspect of the due diligence and organizational responsibilities of these parties and their authorized representatives, including the board of directors and management. For many decades, the GDD has offered support to help ensure that these obligations are met effectively.
The GDD in the European context
The GDD also promotes its own values in data protection at the international level and invokes the proven principle of self-monitoring. This is not the only way in which the GDD actively contributes to EU data protec-tion legislation: the important global aspect of data protection is also an integral part of the GDD through professional exchange, particularly with data protection supervisory authorities in other EU member states.
CEDPO
As a member of a multi-stakeholder expert group, CEDPO advises the European Commission on the application of the GDPR. It also regularly participates in workshops organized by the European Data Protection Board to share its practical perspective on GDPR-related issues.
CEDPO's objectives:
- Promote the role of data protection officers,
- Provide advice on balanced, practical, and effective data protection, and
- Contributing to better harmonisation of data protection laws and practices in the EU/EEA