Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (UK GDPR) ·

Article 37 Designation of the data protection officer

Art. 37 · in force: yes

Captured statutory text (L5)

Article 37 Designation of the data protection officer

(1)The controller and the processor shall designate a data protection officer in any case where:

(a)the processing is carried out by a public authority or body, except for courts and tribunals acting in their judicial capacity;

(b)the core activities of the controller or the processor consist of processing operations which, by virtue of their nature, their scope and/or their purposes, require regular and systematic monitoring of data subjects on a large scale; or

(c)the core activities of the controller or the processor consist of processing on a large scale of special categories of data pursuant to Article 9 or personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences referred to in Article 10.

(2)A group of undertakings may appoint a single data protection officer provided that a data protection officer is easily accessible from each establishment.

(3)Where the controller or the processor is a public authority or body, a single data protection officer may be designated for several such authorities or bodies, taking account of their organisational structure and size.

(4)In cases other than those referred to in paragraph 1, the controller or processor or associations and other bodies representing categories of controllers or processors may ... designate a data protection officer. The data protection officer may act for such associations and other bodies representing controllers or processors.

(5)The data protection officer shall be designated on the basis of professional qualities and, in particular, expert knowledge of data protection law and practices and the ability to fulfil the tasks referred to in Article 39.

(6)The data protection officer may be a staff member of the controller or processor, or fulfil the tasks on the basis of a service contract.

(7)The controller or the processor shall publish the contact details of the data protection officer and communicate them to the Commission.

Full captured verbatim text

(1) The controller and the processor shall designate a data protection officer in any case where:

(a) the processing is carried out by a public authority or body, except for courts and tribunals acting in their judicial capacity;

(b) the core activities of the controller or the processor consist of processing operations which, by virtue of their nature, their scope and/or their purposes, require regular and systematic monitoring of data subjects on a large scale; or

(c) the core activities of the controller or the processor consist of processing on a large scale of special categories of data pursuant to Article 9 or personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences referred to in Article 10.

(2) A group of undertakings may appoint a single data protection officer provided that a data protection officer is easily accessible from each establishment.

(3) Where the controller or the processor is a public authority or body, a single data protection officer may be designated for several such authorities or bodies, taking account of their organisational structure and size.

(4) In cases other than those referred to in paragraph 1, the controller or processor or associations and other bodies representing categories of controllers or processors may ... designate a data protection officer. The data protection officer may act for such associations and other bodies representing controllers or processors.

(5) The data protection officer shall be designated on the basis of professional qualities and, in particular, expert knowledge of data protection law and practices and the ability to fulfil the tasks referred to in Article 39.

(6) The data protection officer may be a staff member of the controller or processor, or fulfil the tasks on the basis of a service contract.

(7) The controller or the processor shall publish the contact details of the data protection officer and communicate them to the Commission.

What this provision means

Model summary, checked against the text on the left.

Relevance to Signicat: 2/3 · detailed summary (L4) Status: not needed for a short provision · Stored artifact; current recipe verification unavailable

Controllers and processors must designate a data protection officer in specified cases of public bodies, monitoring, or sensitive data.

Only the one-line summary above is stored for this provision; the text itself is the evidence.

Refers to

cross-reference internal_cite · Art. 10

cross-reference internal_cite · Art. 39

cross-reference internal_cite · Art. 9

Referred to by

cross-reference internal_cite · Art. 47

cross-reference internal_cite · Art. 83

Part summaries

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Verification findings (147)

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Instrument tier unavailable

Change history as published

Art. 44 omitted (5.2.2026) by virtue of Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (c. 18), s. 142(1), Sch. 7 para. 2(1); S.I. 2026/82, reg. 2(z9)

Art. 45 omitted (5.2.2026) by virtue of Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (c. 18), s. 142(1), Sch. 7 para. 3; S.I. 2026/82, reg. 2(z9)

Art. 48 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 41 (with reg. 5, Sch. 1 para. 80); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Art. 53 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 47 (with reg. 5, Sch. 1 para. 80); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Art. 54 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 48 (with reg. 5, Sch. 1 para. 80); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Art. 55 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 50 (with reg. 5, Sch. 1 para. 80); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Art. 56 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 51 (with reg. 5, Sch. 1 para. 80); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Art. 59 omitted (20.8.2025) by virtue of Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (c. 18), s. 142(1), Sch. 11 para. 12; S.I. 2025/904, reg. 2(y)

Ch. 7 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 55 (with reg. 5, Sch. 1 para. 80); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1) · repeated 17×

Art. 77 omitted (19.6.2026) by virtue of Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (c. 18), ss. 103(6), 142(1); S.I. 2026/82, reg. 3(a) (with reg. 7)

Art. 81 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 60 (with reg. 5, Sch. 1 para. 80); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Art. 87 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 67 (with reg. 5, Sch. 1 para. 80); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Art. 88 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 68 (with reg. 5, Sch. 1 para. 80); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Art. 89 omitted (5.2.2026) by virtue of Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (c. 18), ss. 86(4), 142(1); S.I. 2026/82, reg. 2(n)

Art. 90 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 70 (with reg. 5, Sch. 1 para. 80); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Art. 91 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 71 (with reg. 5, Sch. 1 para. 80); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Ch. 10 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 72 (with reg. 5, Sch. 1 para. 80); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1) · repeated 2×

Art. 97 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 76 (with reg. 5, Sch. 1 para. 80); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Art. 98 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 77 (with reg. 5, Sch. 1 para. 80); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Art. 99 omitted (31.12.2020) by virtue of The Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/419), reg. 1(2), Sch. 1 para. 78 (with reg. 5, Sch. 1 para. 80); 2020 c. 1, Sch. 5 para. 1(1)

Pending effects amendments not yet applied to this text

Art. 57(3)(4) word substituted by The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026 Sch. 3 para. 41(3)para. 41(4)(z1)(i) · Effective date unknown · Art. 57

Art. 57(2) word substituted by The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026 Sch. 3 para. 41(3)para. 41(4)(z1)(ii) · Effective date unknown · Art. 57

Art. 77 heading word substituted by The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026 Sch. 3 para. 41(3)para. 41(4)(z3)(i) · Effective date unknown · Art. 77

Art. 77(1)(2) word substituted by The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026 Sch. 3 para. 41(3)para. 41(4)(z3)(ii) · Effective date unknown · Art. 77

Art. 80(2) word substituted by The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2026 Sch. 3 para. 41(3)para. 41(4)(z6) · Effective date unknown · Art. 80

Provenance

Every claim the system makes about this text is traceable to these identifiers.

Instrument: uk:eur/2016/679
Part
Version: b0e58b6afa250bd01c5afd9c…
Content hash: sha256 a239ef8c830229f6bb9d19d0…
Source: legislation.gov.uk/eur/2016/679