Nicola Fabiano, President of the Data Protection Authority, San Marino
December 23, 2019
The ‘Regulator Spotlight’ interview series by OneTrust DataGuidance documents jurisdictional focuses, legal developments, and guidance direct from commissioners, regulators, and supervisory boards and brings poignant commentary to the rapidly changing data privacy landscape. Over the past 12 months, OneTrust DataGuidance has sat down with leading figures from organizations including the European Data Protection Supervisor’s Office, the UK ICO, and the United Nations.
In October 2019, we spoke with Nicola Fabiano, President of the Data Protection Authority, San Marino. Nicola discusses requirements under the recently passed data protection law, as well as the role that international collaboration will play in the development of the authority.
New data protection law in San Marino
The data protection authority in San Marino was established in April 2019. Nicola explains that its creation was in part down to the approval of Law 171, which he was appointed by the Government of San Marino to draft.
“We started working in April and we issued a lot of measures related to the right to be forgotten, for example, data breaches and other requests that we received,” said Nicola.
The law itself closely resembles the GDPR in many areas and Nicola explains that it was intentionally designed this way to assist in the country’s need to obtain an adequacy status from the European Union.
Related: San Marino: Data protection law enters into force
International cooperation in global privacy
As the San Marino Data Protection Authority is a relatively young organization, Nicola outlines that international cooperation is key for observing what is happening in other jurisdictions worldwide, which will give them an overview of how the privacy and data protection landscape develops:
“Regarding our membership [to the ICDPPC], I think that is a very good opportunity because we can share our ideas, thoughts, and doubts with other institutions, other data protection authorities, other colleagues and that is very important.”
Nicola concludes that these interactions are crucial to help understand the position that other authorities are taking on certain data protection principles and is keen to continue these conversations as the authority grows in stature.
Related: International: ICDPPC announces new members and observers
Watch the full interview with Mr. Fabiano below where he elaborates on both the new data protection regulation and international cooperation, as well as commenting on the development of the authority as one which has been recently established.