Art. 37 GDPR · Chapter IV: Controller and processor · Section 4: Data protection officer
Article 37 GDPR: Designation of the data protection officer
Text as of 28 October 2026 Reviewed by Sergio Maldonado Elvira on 29 October 2026
Summary (not the official text)
The controller and the processor must designate a data protection officer where processing is carried out by a public authority or body (except courts acting in their judicial capacity), or where their core activities involve regular and systematic monitoring of data subjects on a large scale or large-scale processing of special categories of data or data relating to criminal convictions and offences. The officer is designated on the basis of professional qualities, and his or her contact details must be published and communicated to the supervisory authority.
Official text
The controller and the processor shall designate a data protection officer in any case where:
the processing is carried out by a public authority or body, except for courts acting in their judicial capacity;
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
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.
A group of undertakings may appoint a single data protection officer provided that a data protection officer is easily accessible from each establishment.
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.
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 or, where required by Union or Member State law shall, designate a data protection officer. The data protection officer may act for such associations and other bodies representing controllers or processors.
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.
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.
The controller or the processor shall publish the contact details of the data protection officer and communicate them to the supervisory authority.
Source: Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Official Journal L 119, 4.5.2016, as corrected. Only the text published in the Official Journal is authentic. © European Union, https://eur-lex.europa.eu
Text as of 28 October 2026.
This is reference material, not legal advice.
Related recitals
This list is under review.
EDPB guidance
- Guidelines on Data Protection Officers ('DPO')
WP243 rev.01FinalEndorsed by the EDPB 25 May 2018
Fines
Amounts are shown in the currency in which the fine was imposed.
- IAB Europe: EUR 250,000
Autorité de protection des données / Gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit (Belgium), BelgiumDecision of 2 February 2022Appeal status: upheld
The ad-industry Transparency and Consent Framework processed users' preference strings without a legal basis, with vague information, weak safeguards, no records, no DPIA and no DPO.
- Deliveroo Italy s.r.l.: EUR 2,500,000
Garante per la protezione dei dati personali, ItalyDecision of 22 July 2021Appeal status: unknown
Food-delivery platform managed about 8,000 riders through opaque algorithms (booking and work allocation), collected excessive data including location, and lacked a DPIA and proper records.