BfDI — Bundesbeauftragter für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit
Overview
The Bundesbeauftragter für den Datenschutz und die Informationsfreiheit (BfDI) is Germany’s independent Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, responsible for supervising data processing by federal public authorities and advising the Bundestag on data protection legislation. The BfDI enforces the GDPR and the Federal Data Protection Act (Bundesdatenschutzgesetz, BDSG) for entities under federal jurisdiction. For neuroscience research, this covers federal research institutions in the Helmholtz Association and coordinated national infrastructure including the NFDI. Germany’s university-based research institutions fall under the jurisdiction of the relevant state-level (Länder) data protection authority rather than the BfDI. The BfDI is Germany’s representative on the EDPB.
Connections
- relatedTo: GDPR (BfDI enforces GDPR and the national BDSG for federal-jurisdiction entities in Germany)
- memberOf: EDPB (BfDI is Germany’s representative on the European Data Protection Board)