CIPP-E Sample Questions & Answers

Under Article 21 of the GDPR, a controller must stop profiling when requested by a data subject, unless it can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override the interests of the individual. In the Guidelines on Automated individual decision-making and Profiling, the WP 29 says the controller needs to do all of the following to demonstrate that it has such legitimate grounds EXCEPT?

Article 5(1 )(b) of the GDPR states that personal data must be “collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a way incompatible with those purposes.” Based on Article 5(1 )(b), what is the impact of a member state’s interpretation of the word “incompatible”?

Which EU institution is vested with the competence to propose new data protection legislation on its own initiative?

A company in France suffers a robbery over the weekend owing to a faulty alarm system. When it is determined that the break-in involves the loss of a substantial amount of data, the company decides on a CCTV system to monitor for future incidents. Company technicians install cameras in the entrance of the building, hallways and offices. Footage is recorded continuously, and is monitored by the home office in the United States. What is the most realistic step the company could take to address their security concerns and comply with the personal data processing principles set out in Article 5 of the GDPR?

SCENARIO

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Zandelay Fashion (‘Zandelay’) is a successful international online clothing retailer that employs approximately 650 people at its headquarters based in Dublin, Ireland. Martin is their recently appointed data protection officer, who oversees the company’s compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other privacy legislation.

The company offers both male and female clothing lines across all age demographics, including children. In doing so, the company processes large amounts of information about such customers, including preferences and sensitive financial information such as credit card and bank account numbers.

In an aggressive bid to build revenue growth, Jerry, the CEO, tells Martin that the company is launching a new mobile app and loyalty scheme that puts significant emphasis on profiling the company’s customers by analyzing their purchases. Martin tells the CEO that: (a) the potential risks of such activities means that Zandelay needs to carry out a data protection impact assessment to assess this new venture and its privacy implications; and (b) where the results of this assessment indicate a high risk in the absence of appropriate protection measures. Zandelay may have to undertake a prior consultation with the Irish Data Protection Commissioner before implementing the app and loyalty scheme.

Jerry tells Martin that he is not happy about the prospect of having to directly engage with a supervisory authority and having to disclose details of Zandelay’s business plan and associated processing activities.

What must Zandelay provide to the supervisory authority during the prior consultation?

What is one major goal that the OECD Guidelines, Convention 108 and the Data Protection Directive (Directive 95/46/EC) all had in common but largely failed to achieve in Europe?

SCENARIO

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Liem, an online retailer known for its environmentally friendly shoes, has recently expanded its presence in Europe. Anxious to achieve market dominance, Liem teamed up with another eco friendly company, EcoMick, which sells accessories like belts and bags. Together the companies drew up a series of marketing campaigns designed to highlight the environmental and economic benefits of their products. After months of planning, Liem and EcoMick entered into a data sharing agreement to use the same marketing database, MarketlQ, to send the campaigns to their respective contacts.

Liem and EcoMick then procured the services of a company called JaphSoft, a marketing optimization firm that uses machine learning to help companies run successful campaigns. Clients provide JaphSoft with the personal data of individuals they would like to be targeted in each campaign. To ensure protection of its clients’ data, JaphSoft implements the technical and organizational measures it deems appropriate. JaphSoft works to continually improve its machine learning models by analyzing the data it receives from its clients to determine the most successful components of a successful campaign. JaphSoft then uses such models in providing services to its client-base. Since the models improve only over a period of time as more information is collected, JaphSoft does not have a deletion process for the data it receives from clients. However, to ensure compliance with data privacy rules, JaphSoft pseudonymizes the personal data by removing identifying information from the contact information. JaphSoft’s engineers, however, maintain all contact information in the same database as the identifying information.

Under its agreement with Liem and EcoMick, JaphSoft received access to MarketlQ, which included contact information as well as prior purchase history for such contacts, to create campaigns that would result in the most views of the two companies’ websites. A prior Liem customer, Ms. Iman, received a marketing campaign from JaphSoft regarding Liem’s as well as EcoMick’s latest products.
While Ms. Iman recalls checking a box to receive information in the future regarding Liem’s products, she has never shopped EcoMick, nor provided her personal data to that company.

Under the GDPR, Liem and EcoMick’s contract with MarketlQ must include all of the following provisions EXCEPT?

Which of the following does NOT have to be included in the records most processors must maintain in relation to their data processing activities?

SCENARIO

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Building Block Inc. is a multinational company, headquartered in Chicago with offices throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe (including Germany, Italy, France and Portugal). Last year the company was the victim of a phishing attack that resulted in a significant data breach. The executive board, in coordination with the general manager, their Privacy Office and the Information Security team, resolved to adopt additional security measures. These included training awareness programs, a cybersecurity audit, and use of a new software tool called SecurityScan, which scans employees’ computers to see if they have software that is no longer being supported by a vendor and therefore not getting security updates. However, this software also provides other features, including the monitoring of employees’ computers.

Since these measures would potentially impact employees, Building Block’s Privacy Office decided to issue a general notice to all employees indicating that the company will implement a series of initiatives to enhance information security and prevent future data breaches.

After the implementation of these measures, server performance decreased. The general manager instructed the Security team on how to use SecurityScan to monitor employees’ computers activity and their location. During these activities, the Information Security team discovered that one employee from Italy was daily connecting to a video library of movies, and another one from Germany worked remotely without authorization. The Security team reported these incidents to the Privacy Office and the general manager. In their report, the team concluded that the employee from Italy was the reason why the server performance decreased.

Due to the seriousness of these infringements, the company decided to apply disciplinary measures to both employees, since the security and privacy policy of the company prohibited employees from installing software on the company’s computers, and from working remotely without authorization.

To comply with the GDPR, what should Building Block have done as a first step before implementing the SecurityScan measure?

SCENARIO

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Javier is a member of the fitness club EVERFIT. This company has branches in many EU member states, but for the purposes of the GDPR maintains its primary establishment in France. Javier lives in Newry, Northern Ireland (part of the U.K.), and commutes across the border to work in Dundalk, Ireland. Two years ago while on a business trip, Javier was photographed while working out at a branch of EVERFIT in Frankfurt, Germany. At the time, Javier gave his consent to being included in the photograph, since he was told that it would be used for promotional purposes only. Since then, the photograph has been used in the club’s U.K. brochures, and it features in the landing page of its U.K. website. However, the fitness club has recently fallen into disrepute due to widespread mistreatment of members at various branches of the club in several EU member states. As a result, Javier no longer feels comfortable with his photograph being publicly associated with the fitness club.

After numerous failed attempts to book an appointment with the manager of the local branch to discuss this matter, Javier sends a letter to EVETFIT requesting that his image be removed from the website and all promotional materials. Months pass and Javier, having received no acknowledgment of his request, becomes very anxious about this matter. After repeatedly failing to contact EVETFIT through alternate channels, he decides to take action against the company.

Javier contacts the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office (‘ICO’ - the U.K.’s supervisory authority) to lodge a complaint about this matter. The ICO, pursuant to Article 56 (3) of the GDPR, informs the CNIL (i.e. the supervisory authority of EVERFIT’s main establishment) about this matter. Despite the fact that EVERFIT has an establishment in the U.K., the CNIL decides to handle the case in accordance with Article 60 of the GDPR. The CNIL liaises with the ICO, as relevant under the cooperation procedure. In light of issues amongst the supervisory authorities to reach a decision, the European Data Protection Board becomes involved and, pursuant to the consistency mechanism, issues a binding decision.

Additionally, Javier sues EVERFIT for the damages caused as a result of its failure to honor his request to have his photograph removed from the brochure and website.

Under the cooperation mechanism, what should the lead authority (the CNIL) do after it has formed its view on the matter?