EU Cloud Code of Conduct approved by the EDPB to ensure GDPR compliance for the cloud industry in Europe.
Two Codes of Conduct have recently been approved for the cloud industry, to ensure GDPR compliance for cloud services in Europe. Euractiv recently reported that the EDPB has approved Codes of Conduct on cloud service providers and cloud infrastructure last month. EDPB Chair Andrea Jelinek said “We welcome the efforts made by the code owners to elaborate codes of conduct, which are practical, transparent and potentially cost-effective tools to ensure greater consistency among a sector and foster data protection compliance.” The two Codes of Conduct are the first of their kind to be formally approved by data protection authorities and will provide a blueprint for compliance with data protection regulation in Europe.
All Cloud Service Providers are invited to join the EU Cloud Code of Conduct which covers the full spectrum of cloud services.
The new EU Cloud Code of Conduct covers the full array of services- software (SaaS), platform (PaaS) and infrastructure (IaaS). The code was drafted together with authorities of the European Union, and is intended for cloud service providers, to provide guidance for data protection compliance while securing trust from customers for their cloud services. There are various membership options depending on the interest of the Cloud Service Provider, and providers will be able to declare their services as being adherent to the code. The codes are expected to increase transparency and trust in the European cloud computing market. Both Codes will appoint independent monitoring bodies that will ensure their application of the Codes is GDPR compliant. These monitoring bodies will provide external auditing and will be accredited by the relevant data protection authority.
These codes of conduct are expected to boost the cloud computing industry, bringing greater certainty to both EU companies and citizens.
While cloud computing is sill not used by several EU companies, uncertainty around judicial applicability and data protection are seen as barriers to many companies. This major step towards providing clear guidance to EU companies is expected to address those issues, as cloud computing is becoming increasingly popular. As an added benefit businesses will now be able to avoid the uncertainty created by Schrems II, although these codes cannot be used in the context of international data transfers, customers will be able to request the storage of their data within the EU. EU citizens will enjoy the benefits of greater control over their personal data, transparency on where their data is stored, and greatest certainty surrounding the use of their data.
