Is having an EU/UK representative mandatory under GDPR?

The need to designate an EU/UK representative under the General Data Protection Regulation is subject to specific conditions regarding your organization’s processing activities.

When is an EU/UK Representative Mandatory?

A representative of the EU/UK is mandatory only if all the following conditions are satisfied:

• Your organization is not established within the EU/UK.
• You process personal data of individuals located in the EU/UK
• Your processing activities include offering goods or services to data subjects in the EU/UK, whether paid or not and monitoring of data subjects’ behavior in the EU/UK, for example, by tracking their online activities for profiling.

What are the exemptions from the requirement?

Your organization will not be required to appoint an EU/UK representative if the following conditions are all fulfilled.

• You do not process sensitive personal data on a large scale such as
• Data relating to criminal convictions and offenses.

• The processing is unlikely to result in a risk to the rights and freedoms of individuals.
• Your organization is a public authority or body.

What are some practical considerations?

Publicly listed organizations: If your organization is a public company processing the data of EU/UK data subjects, it is usually recommended that a representative be appointed to ensure compliance.

Large-scale data processing: The controllers and processors that fall within the categories of organizations processing a considerable amount of personal data or sensitive information must consider the appointment of a representative.

Risk management: In cases where it is not strictly required, the representative is useful in dealing with compliance issues and attending in an effective manner to requests from data subjects or supervisory authorities.

Because there is no formal audit process to certify a company as GDPR compliant, an organization could face massive penalties, including fines, for not appointing an EU/UK representative if such appointment is required. It is, therefore, important to note that organizations carefully assess their data processing activities to see whether they attract this requirement.