Mission
The Commission issues opinions and makes recommendations, grants authorizations, checks the way in which personal data are processed, informs and provides assistance. This is how the Commission wants to make sure that any individual's right to privacy is protected when personal data are processed, always respecting a certain balance.
On this page
The Commission's main tasks can be subdivided into four areas of activity:
Opinions and recommendations
The Commission's activities aim at (public) authorities in charge of data processing, and in certain cases also at private data controllers.
Authorization
"Authorization" means giving an authority from a certain sector permission to process and disclose personal data.
Authorization is usually granted by a specific sector committee within the Commission. The Commission can obviously also decide to grant the authorization itself.
Inspection, supervision and complaints
This area of activity contains a considerable amount of tasks and aims at:
- the competent public authorities,
- the private sector,
- the invidivual citizen or legal person.
The Commission's tasks are:
- handling complaints and possibly related mediation;
- the exercise of the right of access and rectification on behalf of a third party (indirect access);
- treating notifications;
- keeping the public register;
- targeted inspection and control tasks;
- notification to the Public Prosecutor;
- bringing cases before civil court;
- follow-up of the reports it has received.
Information and assistance
A fourth area of activity is the Commission's information mission, aiming at various target groups:
- the authorities,
- the private sector,
- individual citizens,
- data controllers (natural persons or legal persons).
The Commission's tasks in this area comprise:
- keeping the public register;
- providing information while handling complaints;
- reporting to Parliament annually;
- drawing up the management plan;
- drawing up the Rules of Procedure;
- answering questions from private individuals and data controllers.
Within these four areas of activity, Commission interventions are not necessarily restricted to Belgium. Through its representatives, the Commission also participates in the activities of international supervisory authorities such as Schengen and Europol.
One of the Commission's tasks is also to play an active part in European and international organizations, participating in global and European meetings of privacy commissions and working parties, such as the European Union's Article 29 Working Party.
