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BES Islands

Summary

Law: Act of May 17, 2010 Containing Rules on the Protection of Personal Data of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba (BES Data Protection Act) (only available in Dutch here) ('Wbp BES')

Regulator: Commission for the Supervision of Data Protection BES ('CBP BES')

Summary: As part of the transition that established the BES Islands from the Netherlands Antilles, on 10 October 2010, the Dutch Constitution (only available in Dutch here) and the operations of the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data ('Convention 108') and the Additional Protocol to Convention 108 were extended to the BES Islands. In particular, Article 10 of the Dutch Constitution states that every individual has the right of respect with regards to his/her privacy and that law shall provide protection to safeguard such privacy in connection to registration and distribution of personal data. As a result, the Wbp BES went into effect on 10 October 2010 with the aim of complying with this constitutional protection. As privacy and data protection is a relatively new concept on the BES Islands, the CBP BES emphasised publishing guidance for organisations as a means of setting a standard on the implementation of the Wbp BES. 

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