Bodobalazs: 1 revision imported: GDPRHUB import 2023 04 18

2023-04-18T15:01:44Z

1 revision imported: GDPRHUB import 2023 04 18

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![[Article 90 GDPR|←]] Article 91 - Existing data protection rules of churches and religious associations [[Article 92 GDPR|→]]
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<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" overflow:auto;" style="border-width: 0px">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Chapter 1: General provisions</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
<small>
[[Article 1 GDPR|Article 1: Subject-matter and objectives]]<br />
[[Article 2 GDPR|Article 2: Material scope]]<br />
[[Article 3 GDPR|Article 3: Territorial scope]]<br />
[[Article 4 GDPR|Article 4: Definitions]]<br />
</small>
</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" overflow:auto;" style="border-width: 0px">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Chapter 2: Principles</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
<small>
[[Article 5 GDPR|Article 5: Principles relating to processing of personal data]]<br />
[[Article 6 GDPR|Article 6: Lawfulness of processing]]<br />
[[Article 7 GDPR|Article 7: Conditions for consent]]<br />
[[Article 8 GDPR|Article 8: Conditions applicable to child’s consent in relation to information society services]]<br />
[[Article 9 GDPR|Article 9: Processing of special categories of personal data]]<br />
[[Article 10 GDPR|Article 10: Processing of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences]]<br />
[[Article 11 GDPR|Article 11: Processing which does not require identification]]<br />
</small>
</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" overflow:auto;" style="border-width: 0px">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Chapter 3: Rights of the data subject</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
<small>
[[Article 12 GDPR|Article 12: Transparent information, communication and modalities for the exercise of the rights of the data subject]]<br />
[[Article 13 GDPR|Article 13: Information to be provided where personal data are collected from the data subject]]<br />
[[Article 14 GDPR|Article 14: Information to be provided where personal data have not been obtained from the data subject]]<br />
[[Article 15 GDPR|Article 15: Right of access by the data subject]]<br />
[[Article 16 GDPR|Article 16: Right to rectification]]<br />
[[Article 17 GDPR|Article 17: Right to erasure (‘right to be forgotten’)]]<br />
[[Article 18 GDPR|Article 18: Right to restriction of processing]]<br />
[[Article 19 GDPR|Article 19: Notification obligation regarding rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing]]<br />
[[Article 20 GDPR|Article 20: Right to data portability]]<br />
[[Article 21 GDPR|Article 21: Right to object]]<br />
[[Article 22 GDPR|Article 22: Automated individual decision-making, including profiling]]<br />
[[Article 23 GDPR|Article 23: Restrictions]]<br />
</small>
</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" overflow:auto;" style="border-width: 0px">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Chapter 4: Controller and processor</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
<small>
[[Article 24 GDPR|Article 24: Responsibility of the controller]]<br />
[[Article 25 GDPR|Article 25: Data protection by design and by default]]<br />
[[Article 26 GDPR|Article 26: Joint controllers]]<br />
[[Article 27 GDPR|Article 27: Representatives of controllers or processors not established in the Union]]<br />
[[Article 28 GDPR|Article 28: Processor]]<br />
[[Article 29 GDPR|Article 29: Processing under the authority of the controller or processor]]<br />
[[Article 30 GDPR|Article 30: Records of processing activities]]<br />
[[Article 31 GDPR|Article 31: Cooperation with the supervisory authority]]<br />
[[Article 32 GDPR|Article 32: Security of processing]]<br />
[[Article 33 GDPR|Article 33: Notification of a personal data breach to the supervisory authority]]<br />
[[Article 34 GDPR|Article 34: Communication of a personal data breach to the data subject]]<br />
[[Article 35 GDPR|Article 35: Data protection impact assessment]]<br />
[[Article 36 GDPR|Article 36: Prior consultation]]<br />
[[Article 37 GDPR|Article 37: Designation of the data protection officer]]<br />
[[Article 38 GDPR|Article 38: Position of the data protection officer]]<br />
[[Article 39 GDPR|Article 39: Tasks of the data protection officer]]<br />
[[Article 40 GDPR|Article 40: Codes of conduct]]<br />
[[Article 41 GDPR|Article 41: Monitoring of approved codes of conduct]]<br />
[[Article 42 GDPR|Article 42: Certification]]<br />
[[Article 43 GDPR|Article 43: Certification bodies]]<br />
</small>
</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" overflow:auto;" style="border-width: 0px">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Chapter 5: Transfers of personal data</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
<small>
[[Article 44 GDPR|Article 44: General principle for transfers]]<br />
[[Article 45 GDPR|Article 45: Transfers on the basis of an adequacy decision]]<br />
[[Article 46 GDPR|Article 46: Transfers subject to appropriate safeguards]]<br />
[[Article 47 GDPR|Article 47: Binding corporate rules]]<br />
[[Article 48 GDPR|Article 48: Transfers or disclosures not authorised by Union law]]<br />
[[Article 49 GDPR|Article 49: Derogations for specific situations]]<br />
[[Article 50 GDPR|Article 50: International cooperation for the protection of personal data]]<br />
</small>
</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" overflow:auto;" style="border-width: 0px">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Chapter 6: Supervisory authorities</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
<small>
[[Article 51 GDPR|Article 51: Supervisory authority]]<br />
[[Article 52 GDPR|Article 52: Independence]]<br />
[[Article 53 GDPR|Article 53: General conditions for the members of the supervisory authority]]<br />
[[Article 54 GDPR|Article 54: Rules on the establishment of the supervisory authority]]<br />
[[Article 55 GDPR|Article 55: Competence]]<br />
[[Article 56 GDPR|Article 56: Competence of the lead supervisory authority]]<br />
[[Article 57 GDPR|Article 57: Tasks]]<br />
[[Article 58 GDPR|Article 58: Powers]]<br />
[[Article 59 GDPR|Article 59: Activity reports]]<br />
</small>
</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" overflow:auto;" style="border-width: 0px">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Chapter 7: Cooperation and consistency</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
<small>
[[Article 60 GDPR|Article 60: Cooperation between the lead supervisory authority and the other supervisory authorities concerned]]<br />
[[Article 61 GDPR|Article 61: Mutual assistance]]<br />
[[Article 62 GDPR|Article 62: Joint operations of supervisory authorities]]<br />
[[Article 63 GDPR|Article 63: Consistency mechanism]]<br />
[[Article 64 GDPR|Article 64: Opinion of the Board]]<br />
[[Article 65 GDPR|Article 65: Dispute resolution by the Board]]<br />
[[Article 66 GDPR|Article 66: Urgency procedure]]<br />
[[Article 67 GDPR|Article 67: Exchange of information]]<br />
[[Article 68 GDPR|Article 68: European Data Protection Board]]<br />
[[Article 69 GDPR|Article 69: Independence]]<br />
[[Article 70 GDPR|Article 70: Tasks of the Board]]<br />
[[Article 71 GDPR|Article 71: Reports]]<br />
[[Article 72 GDPR|Article 72: Procedure]]<br />
[[Article 73 GDPR|Article 73: Chair]]<br />
[[Article 74 GDPR|Article 74: Tasks of the Chair]]<br />
[[Article 75 GDPR|Article 75: Secretariat]]<br />
[[Article 76 GDPR|Article 76: Confidentiality]]<br />
</small>
</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" overflow:auto;" style="border-width: 0px">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Chapter 8: Remedies, liability and penalties</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
<small>
[[Article 77 GDPR|Article 77: Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority]]<br />
[[Article 78 GDPR|Article 78: Right to an effective judicial remedy against a supervisory authority]]<br />
[[Article 79 GDPR|Article 79: Right to an effective judicial remedy against a controller or processor]]<br />
[[Article 80 GDPR|Article 80: Representation of data subjects]]<br />
[[Article 81 GDPR|Article 81: Suspension of proceedings]]<br />
[[Article 82 GDPR|Article 82: Right to compensation and liability]]<br />
[[Article 83 GDPR|Article 83: General conditions for imposing administrative fines]]<br />
[[Article 84 GDPR|Article 84: Penalties]]<br />
</small>
</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible" overflow:auto;" style="border-width: 0px">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Chapter 9: Specific processing situations</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
<small>
[[Article 85 GDPR|Article 85: Processing and freedom of expression and information]]<br />
[[Article 86 GDPR|Article 86: Processing and public access to official documents]]<br />
[[Article 87 GDPR|Article 87: Processing of the national identification number]]<br />
[[Article 88 GDPR|Article 88: Processing in the context of employment]]<br />
[[Article 89 GDPR|Article 89: Safeguards and derogations relating to processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes]]<br />
[[Article 90 GDPR|Article 90: Obligations of secrecy]]<br />
[[Article 91 GDPR|Article 91: Existing data protection rules of churches and religious associations]]<br />
</small>
</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" overflow:auto;" style="border-width: 0px">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Chapter 10: Delegated and implementing acts</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
<small>
[[Article 92 GDPR|Article 92: Exercise of the delegation]]<br />
[[Article 93 GDPR|Article 93: Committee procedure]]<br />
</small>
</div></div>

<div class="toccolours mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" overflow:auto;" style="border-width: 0px">
<div style="font-weight:bold;line-height:1.6;">Chapter 11: Final provisions</div>
<div class="mw-collapsible-content">
<small>
[[Article 94 GDPR|Article 94: Repeal of Directive 95: /46: /EC]]<br />
[[Article 95 GDPR|Article 95: Relationship with Directive 20: 02: /58: /EC]]<br />
[[Article 96 GDPR|Article 96: Relationship with previously concluded Agreements]]<br />
[[Article 97 GDPR|Article 97: Commission reports]]<br />
[[Article 98 GDPR|Article 98: Review of other Union legal acts on data protection]]<br />
[[Article 99 GDPR|Article 99: Entry into force and application]]<br />
</small>
</div>
</div>
|}

== Legal Text ==
<br /><center>'''Article 91 - Existing data protection rules of churches and religious associations'''</center>

<span id="1">1. Where in a Member State, churches and religious associations or communities apply, at the time of entry into force of this Regulation, comprehensive rules relating to the protection of natural persons with regard to processing, such rules may continue to apply, provided that they are brought into line with this Regulation.</span>

<span id="2">2. Churches and religious associations which apply comprehensive rules in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article shall be subject to the supervision of an independent supervisory authority, which may be specific, provided that it fulfils the conditions laid down in Chapter VI of this Regulation.</span>

==Relevant Recitals==
{{Recital/4 GDPR}}
{{Recital/54 GDPR}}
{{Recital/55 GDPR}}
{{Recital/165 GDPR}}

== Commentary ==

Religious organisations usually process large quantities of personal data relating to their members, for example religious or philosophical beliefs, which are considered special categories of personal data pursuant to [[Article 9 GDPR]]. As a consequence, ensuring that they comply with data protection law is essential to protect the rights and freedoms of data subjects who are (or were) members of such organisations. For historical reasons, however, specific religious organisations may benefit from a particular status in some Member States, which allows them to apply and adopt their own set of binding rules, distinct from national law. For example, as far as the Roman Catholic Church is concerned, some Member States allow for canon law to apply instead of national law for matters falling within the competences of the church. Article 91 GDPR takes this reality into account by allowing, under certain circumstances, churches and religious associations or communities to be subject to their own set of data protection rules, distinct from the GDPR. This derogation is however subject to stringent conditions, as further detailed below. By implication, churches and religious associations or communities that do not meet these conditions remain bound by the GDPR in its entirety.<ref>Giovanni Buttarelli (EDPS), ''Personal Data Protection in churches and religious organisation:'' ''Speech to a Conference organised by the Polish Inspector for Personal Data Protection, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University of Warsaw, Opole University and the University of Szczecin'', Warsaw, 25 February 2016 (available [https://edps.europa.eu/sites/edp/files/publication/16-02-25_personal_data_protection_church_warsaw_en.pdf. here]) (accessed 14 March 2022). </ref>

=== (1) Conditions for the Derogation to Apply ===
For the derogation of Article 91 GDPR to become relevant, the following conditions must be fulfilled: (i) first, the controller or processor must qualify as a church, a religious association or a religious community ; (ii) second, the controller must have adopted and applied, before the entry into force of the GDPR, its own set of data protection rules; and (iii) third, this set of data protection rules must be comprehensive enough and in line with the GDPR (or must otherwise be brought in line with the GDPR).

==== Churches and religious associations or communities ====
The controller must fall within a specific category of actors, namely “''churches and religious associations or communities''”. The GDPR does not define these concepts. However, the EU legislator seems to have embraced a broad definition of the notion of religion in general. For instance, under Article 10(1)(b) of Directive 2011/95/EU, “''[t]he concept of religion shall in particular include the holding of theistic, non-theistic and atheistic beliefs, the participation in, or abstention from, formal worship in private or in public, either alone or in community with others, other religious acts or expressions of view, or forms of personal or communal conduct based on or mandated by any religious belief and as a consequence of religious organisation''”.<ref>In this sense Tosoni, who adds how “''in principle, the concepts of' churches and religious associations or communities should also be interpreted broadly. For instance, in the Jehovah, Witnesses case, the CJEU seems to (implicitly) recognise that the Jehovas Witnesses community should be considered a religious association or community for the purposes of Article 17 TFEU and the DPD, and the Advocate General's Opinion in the same case suggests that this may be true also under Article 91 GDPR''”. See, ''Tosoni'', in Kuner et al., The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Article 91 GDPR, p. 1263 (Oxford University Press 2020).</ref> Based on these specifications, typical examples of religious organisations may include the Roman Catholic Church, and all the catholic associations or communities that belong to it (parishes, monasteries, convents, etc.), the Federation of Islamic Organisations in Europe and all the organisations that operate under it (from national associations to local mosques), or the European Jewish Congress and the different communities it brings together (including national coordinating committees and local Jewish communities). Based on the EU legislator’s broad definition of religion, the notion of religious associations could further include smaller religious, philosophical or non-confessional organisations.<ref>''Tosoni'', in Kuner et al., The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Article 91 GDPR, p. 1263 (Oxford University Press 2020).</ref> In the ''Jehovan todistajat'' case for example, the CJEU seems to have recognized the Jehovah's Witnesses community as a religious association. In theory, the same considerations could also apply to other minority religious or philosophical groups, such as the Freemasons, the Church of Scientology or Buddhist communities.<ref>CJEU, C-25/17, ''Jehovan todistajat'', 10 July 2018 (available [https://curia.europa.eu/juris/liste.jsf?language=en&td=ALL&num=C-25/17 here]).</ref>

==== Preexisting data protection rules ====
The second condition for the derogation prescribed in Article 91 GDPR to apply is that the religious organisations must have already adopted and applied their own set of data protection rules ''prior'' to the entry into force of the GDPR (i.e. prior to 25 May 2016). In practice, this presupposes that the religious organisations (i) must have been allowed to adopt such rules in the first place under national law (cf. special regime); and (ii) must have made use of that possibility before 25 May 2016.

Although the logic behind this second condition is understandable (i.e. allowing for the continuous separation between religious organisations and the state in the EU countries where such organisations already operated under a special regime), it also restricts future beneficiaries of Article 91 GDPR’s derogation. New religious groups, for example, cannot fulfil that condition because of the temporal limitation that it contains. As a result, it can be argued that Article 91 GDPR unduly discriminates between pre-established religious organisations and more recent or new religious groups.

Because of the stringent character of that second condition, only a handful of religious organisations benefit in practice from the derogation contained in Article 91 GDPR. For example, the Jehovah Witnesses community of Finland did not have its own specific set of data protection rules in place prior to the entry into force of the GDPR. Hence, in case C-25/17 (mentioned above), the CJEU considered that the processing of personal data in the context of its door-to-door preaching activities was subject to EU data protection law.<ref>D'Ath Florence and De Smedt Stéphanie, “''Arrêt Jehovan todistajat: clarification du champ d’application matériel de la législation en matière de protection des données et de la notion de responsable conjoint du traitemen''t”, in Journal de Droit Européen, 2019/2, pp. 67-69.</ref>As far as the Roman Catholic Church is concerned, the derogation of Article 91 GDPR would only apply in Poland and in Italy - two Member States where the Catholic Church took advantage of its special status to adopt their own specific set of binding data protection rules in 1997<ref>Act on the Protection on Personal Data of 29 August 1997, Journal of Laws of 2016, 922.</ref> and 1999<ref>General Decree no. 1285/99 promulgated by the Italian Episcopal Conference on 20 October 1999.</ref> respectively, i.e. prior to the entry into force of the GDPR. By contrast, in other Member States, the Catholic Church did not adopt such rules and is thus subject to the GDPR.<ref>See, for example, Communiqués de l'église catholique de Belgique, "''Nouvelle loi sur la protection de la vie privée''", 25 avril 2018, (available [https://www.cathobel.be/2018/04/nouvelle-loi-sur-la-protection-de-la-vie-privee/ here]).</ref> As an illustration of this, in June 2020, an administrative court in Slovenia upheld a decision from the Slovenian DPA regarding the processing of personal data by a small parish of the Roman Catholic Church.<ref>A summary of the judgment can be found on the website of the EDPB. EDPB, ''Slovenian Administrative Court upholds the decision of the Slovenian SA: the right of erasure does not enable an individual to have his personal data erased from Baptismal Register'', 18 October 2021 (available [https://edpb.europa.eu/news/national-news/2021/slovenian-administrative-court-upholds-decision-slovenian-sa-right-erasure_en here]).</ref> The case was initiated by an individual who had requested his personal data to be erased from the Baptismal Register, because he was no longer a member of the church. The parish claimed however that it was required to keep these data on the basis of the Protection of Documents and Archives and Archival Institutions Act,<ref>Protection of Documents and Archives and Archival Institutions Act (ZVDAGA), Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 30/06 and 51/14.</ref> which classifies the registry as archival material of outstanding national importance. The Slovenian DPA concluded that the parish did not violate data protection law by rejecting the request for erasure of the individual in question, because its archiving obligation prohibited such deletion. This decision was upheld by the administrative court in second instance. Even if the complaint of the individual was ultimately dismissed, this case shows that the parish in question was subject to the GDPR because, in Slovenia, the Roman Catholic Church did not adopt its own rules on data protection prior to 25 May 2016. Even in a situation when a religious organisation would have adopted its own set of data protection rules prior to 25 May 2016, Tosoni correctly argues that such special rules would in any case only operate “''as a lex specialis where such organisations process data for strictly religious purposes''”.<ref>''Tosoni'', in Kuner et al., The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Article 91 GDPR, p. 1263 (Oxford University Press 2020).</ref> In other words, the processing operations that fall outside of the religious activities of the concerned organisations would remain subject to the GDPR.

==== Rules that are comprehensive and in line with the GDPR ====
The third and final condition for the derogation of Article 91 GDPR to apply is that the ''lex specialis'' of the religious organisation must be “''comprehensive''” and "''brought in line with the GDPR"''. Thus, if it is found that the ''lex specialis'' of a religious association does not reach this level of completeness or was not brought in line with the GDPR, the latter will apply instead. To meet this condition, the Roman Catholic Church of Poland and Italy amended their existing data protection rules to bring them in line with the GDPR in 2018.<ref>See, Italian Episcopal Decree 2018 and Polish Episcopal Decree 2018 on the Protection of Individuals in Relation to the Processing of Personal Data in the Catholic Church.</ref> The applicable decrees provide, inter alia, that the Church must keep a record of processing activities, appoint a DPO and report data breaches when they occur.<ref>''Tosoni'', in Kuner et al., The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Article 91 GDPR, p.1264.</ref> The GDPR does not provide any clear indications as to the level of comprehensiveness and equivalence which must exist between the GDPR and the ''lex specialis''. It can be assumed however that the general principles of data protection law as enshrined in Article 5 GDPR must be complied with, and that the rights of the data subjects as found in the GDPR must also be available under the ''lex specialis''. In other words, there must exist a basic level of equivalence between the ''lex specialis'' and the GDPR. However, there may still be minor divergences from the GDPR when necessary to achieve the ultimate aim of the provision, which is to protect the independence of churches and religious associations or communities.

=== (2) DPA supervision ===
Religious organisations that fulfil the requirements listed in Paragraph 1 and therefore continue to apply their special rules must be subject to the supervision of an independent supervisory authority. It can either be a specific authority established by a religious organisation itself, or the general DPA responsible for monitoring the application of the GDPR at the regional or national level. In both cases, all the conditions specified in Chapter VI GDPR relating to supervisory authorities must be met. For example, the authority must be sufficiently independent in line with Article 52 GDPR. In Poland, the Roman Catholic Church has made use of that possibility by establishing a specific supervisory authority in charge of monitoring the processing activities of the country’s Church, referred to as the Church Data Protection Inspector (''Kościelny Inspektor Ochrony Danych'').<ref>Articles 35 to 40 of the Polish Episcopal Decree 2018.</ref> Whether this authority meets all the requirements set in Chapter VI GDPR remains to be assessed.

== Decisions ==
→ You can find all related decisions in [[:Category:Article 91 GDPR]]

== References ==
<references />

[[Category:Article 91 GDPR]] [[Category:GDPR Articles]]

Article 91 GDPR - Revision history

Bodobalazs: 1 revision imported: GDPRHUB import 2023 04 18