Reproduced with permission from Privacy & Security Law Report, 13 PVLR 823, 05/12/2014. Copyright � 2014 byThe Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) http://www.bna.com

Privacy Enforcers in the EU: A Comparative StudyOf National Data Protection Agencies’ Annual Reports

BY AURELIE POLS

F ollowing are graphics highlighting comparisons of selected topics discussed in the annual reports of data pro-tection authorities in various European Union member states.

17 %

83 %

Solemnly publicbudget financed

Loss-makingagencies

Balancedbudget

Moderate surplus(up to 25%)

High surplus(over 50%)

SOURCES OF FUNDING

DIStRIbUtION OF DPAs bUDGEtS9

7

5

3

13

5

87

135%SPAIN

MAjoR SURPLUS

-32%CzeCh

RePublIC

MAjoR DefICIT

Data Protection Agencies are rarely huge money loosingenterprises for european countries, on the contrary! With Spainleading the way, the right equilibrium needs to be found betweenhaving a balanced budget, protecting citizens’ rights andfostering economic growth through nurtured entrepreneurship.

DPAs and their finances: where does the moneycome from & is Data Protection a cost?DPAs are public budget financed to cover functioning costs. The ways ofallocating this budget varies per country. Some countries also charge fees forregistering their data files while others rely more on fines to assure revenue.

INCoMeCoSTS

fees and publicbudget financed

Popu

lation

(inm

illion

s)Population

Budget

DPAs

annu

albu

dget

(ineu

ros)

DPA bUDGEt AND POPUlAtION

Hunga

ryIre

land

Icelan

d

Portug

alUK

Romani

a

Swede

nest

onia

Italy

Czech

Repub

licPol

andGre

eceLatvia

Sloven

ia

Nethe

rlands

Bulga

ria

Denm

ark

Louxem

bourg

finlan

dMalt

a

Slovak

iafra

nce Spain

25.000.000

20.000.000

15.000.000

10.000.000

5.000.000

0

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0

COPYRIGHT � 2014 BY THE BUREAU OF NATIONAL AFFAIRS, INC. ISSN 1538-3423

Privacy and Security Law Report®

COUNtRIES wIth thE hIGhEStRISk OF SANCtIONS

(total sanctions / # of inspections)

COUNtRIES wIth thE hIGhEStAvERAGE SANCtIONS

(total amount earned by sanctions / # of total sanctions)

COUNtRIES wIth mOSt CItIzEN COmPlAINtS COUNtRIES DOING thE mOSt INSPECtIONS

While the highest average amount of sanctions goes to the UK, the ICo also enjoys the lowest sanctions and inspections compared to citizens

complaints. Additionally, countries are also limited in the maximum amount of sanctions they can attribute.

UK france HungarySpain Denmark Belgium Ireland

Poland

16.000

12.000

8.000

4.000

0

Complaints

francePortugal

SloveniaItaly

UKSlovakiaSweden

500

400

300

200

100

0

Inspections

13.8005.389 2.929

421.350

UK Spain Hungary

200€Romania8.800€

Italy

135.650€United Kingdom

34.000€Spain

1.700€Portugal

370€Netherlands

LoWeST

75%Romania

38%Italy

55%United Kingdom

11%Spain(*)

79%Portugal

21%Netherlands

LoWeRRISK

DPAs and their activities: what is all this moneyused for & does it defend citizens’ rights?DPAs exist to defend citizens’ rights to data protection. While sanctions are the most publicizedoutcomes, their daily tasks revert around consulting, inspecting and following-up on complaintsor denunciations -think of the ombudsman type of profile- while giving recommendations.

UK france HungarySpain Denmark Belgium Ireland

Poland

16.000

12.000

8.000

4.000

0

Complaints

2

5-12-14 COPYRIGHT � 2014 BY THE BUREAU OF NATIONAL AFFAIRS, INC. PVLR ISSN 1538-3423

NUmbER OF SANCtIONS PER COUNtRy

SANCtIONS IN thE lIGht OF COmPlAINtS

mAxImUmAmOUNt OFSANCtIONSDPAS CANhAND OUt(in euros)

AmOUNt GAINED by SANCtIONS PER COUNtRy

As the data emanating from the annual reports we looked at is so disparate, it rapidlybecame dangerous to go into further detail. We did want to leave you with some ideasof quantity and amount of sanctions for the last available year for each DPA as well asmaximum fines each country is allowed, by law, to hand out.

Sanctions

Amount gainedby sanctions

Portugal

Italy

Spain

UK

€- 5.000 10.000 15.000 20.000 25.000 30.000 35.000 40.000 135.000 140.000

Portugal Italy Spain UK

Average sanction € 1,690 € 8,823 € 34,091 € 135,650Average sanction generated by a complaint € 681 € 5,837 € 2,550 € 230

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

Spain Ital

yest

onia

Latvia

france

Bulgar

ia

Sloven

ia

Portug

al

Romani

a UK

Slovak

ia

Nether

lands

Hungar

y

Czech

Republ

ic

572

19.500.000 €3.120.000 €

1.500.000 €

644.000 €

Spain

SpainUK

3

20.000.000

19.500.000

19.000.000

18.500.000

18.000.000

3.000.000

2.500.000

2.000.000

1.500.000

1.000.000

500.000

0

Spain UK Ital

y

Portug

alfra

nce

Bulgar

ia

Romani

aIrel

and

Nether

lands

Czech

Republ

ic

Min MaxUK 606,642

Spain 900 600,000

Czech Republic 204,000 408,000

Germany 50,000 300,000

Poland 270,000

Netherlands 250,000

france 150,000

Greece 146,000

Italy 6,000 120,000

Hungary 36,000

Portugal 250 30,000

Switzerland 7,900

All the amount are in € currency, the currency is in constant value of last october, in order to do the comparison and comprehension of information easier.

Metrics and KPIs

T H O M O G E N I z A T I O N O f f I N A N C I A L D A T A ,

3

PRIVACY & SECURITY LAW REPORT ISSN 1538-3423 BNA 5-12-14

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