In a parallel governance move timed for 12 June, the European Data Protection Board announced that its Coordinated Supervision Committee (CSC) will now oversee Eurodac, the EU’s vast asylum-fingerprint system. The decision means Belgium’s Data Protection Authority joins a permanent circle of national regulators auditing database access logs and compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation. For employers and assignees, stronger oversight should translate into clearer rules on how long biometric data are stored and who may consult them, reducing privacy-related litigation risks. Belgian lawyers note that Eurodac’s retention period has been cut from ten to five years for most migrants, aligning with national police file limits. The CSC will publish joint inspection reports twice a year. Belgian members aim to focus first on the interoperability layer that links Eurodac with the Entry/Exit System (EES) – the very interface that failed during the morning’s outage. Any shortcomings could trigger binding recommendations to eu-LISA, and, in severe cases, fines under EU data-protection law. Data-rights NGOs welcome the added scrutiny but caution that the committee lacks enforcement teeth without quicker judicial follow-up in member states. Belgium plans to designate two extra magistrates to handle Eurodac-related appeals, hoping to set best practice for its EU peers.
Source: European Data Protection Board
