Art. 44 GDPR · Chapter V: Transfers of personal data to third countries or international organisations
Article 44 GDPR: General principle for transfers
Text as of 28 October 2026 Reviewed by Sergio Maldonado Elvira on 29 October 2026
Summary (not the official text)
Personal data may be transferred to a third country or an international organisation only if the conditions laid down in Chapter V are complied with, so that the level of protection guaranteed by the Regulation is not undermined.
Official text
Any transfer of personal data which are undergoing processing or are intended for processing after transfer to a third country or to an international organisation shall take place only if, subject to the other provisions of this Regulation, the conditions laid down in this Chapter are complied with by the controller and processor, including for onward transfers of personal data from the third country or an international organisation to another third country or to another international organisation. All provisions in this Chapter shall be applied in order to ensure that the level of protection of natural persons guaranteed by this Regulation is not undermined.
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.
Court of Justice judgments
- C-311/18, Data Protection Commissioner v Facebook Ireland Limited and Maximillian Schrems
Judgment of 16 July 2020ECLI:EU:C:2020:559
Transfers under standard contractual clauses require essentially equivalent protection, assessed case by case including access by foreign authorities; authorities must suspend or prohibit transfers that cannot be protected; the Commission's SCC decision stays valid; the EU-US Privacy Shield decision is invalid.
EDPB guidance
- Guidelines 02/2024 on Article 48 GDPR
EDPB 02/2024FinalFirst published 3 December 2024Final version 5 June 2025
Version 2 is final.
- Guidelines 05/2021 on the interplay between the application of Article 3 and the provisions on international transfers as per Chapter V of the GDPR
EDPB 05/2021FinalFirst published 19 November 2021Final version 24 February 2023
- Recommendations 01/2020 on measures that supplement transfer tools to ensure compliance with the EU level of protection of personal data
EDPB Rec 01/2020FinalFinal version 18 June 2021
Version 2.0 is final; the EDPB's response to C-311/18.
Fines
Amounts are shown in the currency in which the fine was imposed.
- Uber Technologies Inc. en Uber B.V.: EUR 290,000,000
Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens (Dutch Data Protection Authority), NetherlandsDecision of 22 July 2024Appeal status: under appeal
Transferred European drivers' data, including sensitive data, to the US for over two years without transfer tools.
- VODAFONE ESPAÑA, S.A.U.: EUR 6,000,000
Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD), SpainDecision of 11 February 2021Appeal status: unknown
Telecom operator failed to control the marketing firms calling and texting on its behalf, including processors outside the EU, so people who had objected kept receiving marketing.