Article 29 Working Party

The Article 29 Working Party is an independent advisory group established at the EU level with the purpose to provide advice on issues related to the processing of personal data and the free movement of such data.

The group is composed of: representatives of data protection authorities in EU member states, the European Data Protection Supervisor and a representative of the European Commission (providing secretariat services).

The main tasks of of the group include:  the provision of expert opinion from member state level to the European Commission on questions of data protection;  the promotion of an uniform application of the general principles of the EU data protection legislation in all member states; advising the European Commission on any EU measures affecting the rights and freedoms of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and privacy; and making recommendations to the public at large, and in particular to EU institutions on matters relating to the protection of persons with regard to the processing of personal data and privacy in the union. 

The Working Party is directly concerned with the protection of privacy and data protection in the online environment. Since its creation, the group has issued numerous opinions and recommendations on aspects such as: cloud computing, the utilisation of drones, surveillance of electronic communications, Internet of Things, RFID technologies, video surveillance, and anonymisation techniques.