Telecommunications, Media And Technology (TMT) Law Update – Volume 39

Judgments

AAT assesses whether data transfer from Europe complies with GDPR

On 12 February 2021, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal addressed the question of whether the provision of personal information to an Australian government agency by Poland's social welfare agency (known by the acronym "ZUS") involved an infringement of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): Imielski v Department of Social Services (Social services second review) [2021] AATA 208.  The issue arose in the context of an appeal by the applicant against a decision by Centrelink that her disability support pension had been overpaid after taking into account pension payments received from ZUS.  One of the grounds of appeal was that the transfer of personal information from Europe did not comply with Article 45(1) of the GDPR which permits the transfer of personal data to a third country which "ensures an adequate level of protection" (which, by virtue of a 2001 decision of the EU's