GDPR. What about the Belgian Privacy Act?

That the GDPR (also known as - in Dutch - AVG) came into force on May 25, 2018 throughout the European Union, as almost everyone concerned with privacy within the company now knows.

One question we often get is how the Belgian Privacy Act (more correctly, the law on the protection of privacy with respect to the processing of personal data of December 8, 1992) ?

Should this still be taken into account? The answer is : no.

With the entry into force of the GDPR, the Belgian Privacy Act had essentially already been "unofficially" abolished. Indeed, the GDPR regulates in a harmonized manner within the European Union the way in which personal data may be processed. Different national legislation must therefore be set aside.

A number of articles of the Belgian Privacy Act had already been abolished in January 2018 by the law establishing the Data Protection Authority (which replaces the Privacy Commission).

So on Sept. 5, 2018, the Belgian Privacy Act was "officially" abolished with the law of July 30, 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data.

This law further elaborates and clarifies some aspects of the GDPR at the national level. With this law, the full framework is known that must henceforth be taken into account when processing personal data.