3.5 To inform stakeholders, in particular citizens and small and medium-size businesses

The success of the Regulation rests on proper awareness of all those affected by the new rules (the business community and other organisations processing data, the public sector and citizens). At national level, the task of raising awareness and being the first point of contact for controllers, processors and individuals lies primarily with the data protection authorities. As enforcers of data protection rules in their territory, data protection authorities are also the best placed to explain the changes introduced by the Regulation to companies and the public sector, and to familiarise citizens with their rights. Data protection authorities have started informing stakeholders in line with the specific national approach. Some hold seminars with public administrations, including at regional and local level, and run workshops with different business sectors in order to raise awareness about the main provisions of the Regulation. Some run specific training programmes for data protection officers. Most of them provide information materials in various formats on their websites (checklists, videos, etc.). However, there is not yet a sufficiently widespread level of awareness among the citizens of the changes and enhanced right that the new data protection rules will bring. The training and awareness raising initiative set in motion by Data Protection Authorities should be continued and intensified, with a particular focus on SMEs. Furthermore, national sectoral administrations can support the activities of data protection authorities and based on their input do their own outreach among the different stakeholders.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-09-07