With 93% parliamentary support, the new Law will enter into force the day after its publication in the Official State Gazette (Boletín Oficial del Estado BOE). The new Law adapts Spanish law to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and introduces novelties through the development of certain matters contained in the GDPR. The following are the most important of such novelties:
- The Law facilitates the exercise of the specific rights conferred to the data subjects by requiring that the means for exercising such rights are easily accessible;
- In order to enforce the principle of transparency, the new Law regulates the way in which citizens are informed about the processing of their data and opts for a layered information system. Data subjects shall therefore be informed about the basic aspects of the processing and be able to access more detailed information -through a direct link- if they so require;
- The new Law recognizes the right of access and, where appropriate, the right to rectify or suppress the data of deceased persons to persons connected with them, unless the deceased had prohibited such access, rectification or deletion;
- With regard to the processing of the personal data of minors, the Law sets the minimum age for autonomous consent at 14 years. Similarly, it regulates the right to be forgotten in relation to data provided by minors to social networks and other information society services. This right may be exercised by the minor her/himself or by third parties while she/he´s still a minor;
- The new Law specifically includes training on the safe and appropriate use of the Internet in academic curriculum, requiring that teachers receive adequate training with regards to this matter;
- The Law also contains a specific article relating to the processing of personal data within the framework of whistleblowing systems;
- The Law updates also the guarantees applicable to citizens in relation to the use of video surveillance devices, geolocation, sound recording and other digital devices in the workplace;
- The new Law requires a minimum amount of 50 Euros for the inclusion of a person in a credit information system (delinquent file) and reduces from 6 to 5 years the maximum period of inclusion of debts in such files;
- Finally, the sixteenth additional provision contains novelties in relation to unfair competition in the field of data protection.
These are the most outstanding novelties of the new Law. Its full text can be found (in Spanish) at the following link: https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2018/12/06/pdfs/BOE-A-2018-16673.pdf
You can read the article in Spanish here.