ARTICLE · 26 FEBRUARY 2024

The Right Of Access To Personal Data

Norton Rose Fulbright Hong Kong

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The right of access to personal data looks set to be a key focus area for data protection regulators for 2024 in both the EU and the UK.

European UnionPrivacy

Jurriaan Jansen

Naomi Schuitema

Christoph Ritzer

Natalia Filkina

Eloïse Patocki-Tomas

The right of access to personal data looks set to be a key focus area for data protection regulators for 2024 in both the EU and the UK. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) announced that its 2024 co-ordinated enforcement action will look at how controllers implement the right of access to personal data (https://edpb.europa.eu/ news/news/2023/edpb-picks-topic-2024- coordinated-action_en). In the UK, data subject access requests (DSARs) remain a priority for the Information Commissioner's Office (https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/ media-centre/news-and-blogs/2023/10/ john-edwards-delivers-uk-finance-keynote-speech/).

Historically, there have been differences in how controllers in different European countries handle DSARs. However, alongside the enhanced regulatory focus in this area, recent European Court of Justice (ECJ) case law has indicated that the right of access should not always be interpreted as restrictively as it has been previously.

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