Article 37. Designation of the data protection officer

(1) The controller and the processor shall designate a data protection officer where:

1. a) the processing is carried out by a public authority or institution, except for courts acting in the administration of justice;
2. b) the core activities of the controller or the processor consist of processing operations which, by virtue of their nature, scope and/or purposes, require regular and systematic monitoring of data subjects on a large scale; or
3. c) the core activities of the controller or the processor consist of processing on a large scale of special categories of data pursuant to art. 9 or of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences referred to in art. 10.

(2) A group of enterprises may designate a single data protection officer provided that the data protection officer is easily accessible from each establishment of the enterprises concerned.

(3) Where the controller or the processor is a public authority or institution, a single data protection officer may be designated for several such authorities or institutions, taking account of their organisational structure and size.

(4) 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 normative acts, shall designate a data protection officer. The data protection officer may act for such associations and other bodies representing controllers or processors.

(5) The data protection officer shall be designated on the basis of professional qualities and, in particular, of his or her expert knowledge of legislation and practice in the field of personal data protection, and of the ability to fulfil the tasks referred to in art. 39.

(6) The data protection officer may be a staff member of the controller or processor, or may fulfil his or her tasks on the basis of a service contract.

(7) The controller or the processor shall publish the contact details of the data protection officer and communicate them to the Centre.