Fundamentals on Data Protection 2022 at UCLan Cyprus
On the occasion of the World Data Privacy Day held every year on 28 January, the School of Law of the Cyprus Campus of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan Cyprus) in association with the Larnaca Bar Association and Famagusta Bar Association, held on 31 March 2022 their second in a series of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) webinars to celebrate the signing of Memoranda of Understanding between UCLan Cyprus and the Larnaca Bar Association and Famagusta Bar Association respectively. For further information on the MoUs, please visit
https://www.uclancyprus.ac.cy/memorandum-of-understanding-signed-by-uclan-cyprus-and-the-larnaca-bar-association/ and https://www.uclancyprus.ac.cy/memorandum-of-understanding-signed-by-uclan-cyprus-and-the-famagusta-bar-association/
The topic of Data Protection forms part of the Fundamentals in the CPD portfolio of the School of Law in association with legal and other practitioners. You may view last year’s event by way of introduction: https://www.uclancyprus.ac.cy/continuous-professional-development-webinar-2021-law-and-technology-updates/ and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pa2eT5_I7bE
This year’s webinar on the ‘Fundamentals on Data Protection’ was held on 31 March 2022 from 18:00 to 19:30 Cyprus time online via Microsoft Teams. 1 CPD certified hour was available for lawyers registered in the Republic of Cyprus.
The webinar’s aim was to provide participants with information and insights into recent developments in data protection regulation in Cyprus, the European Union and internationally. The webinar format provided plenty of opportunities for participants to engage in discussions with the panellists about current issues in data protection regulation and practical approaches for addressing the issues arising from these matters.
This webinar was relevant to and attended by members of the legal profession including registered lawyers in the Larnaca and Famagusta regions, compliance officers, data protection officers, risk management specialists, entrepreneurs, financial executives, negotiators, public servants, advanced students and all other people who need to be familiar with issues related to data protection. Participation to the webinar could contribute to the CPD of members of the legal profession in England and Wales, the Republic of Cyprus and internationally. UCLan Cyprus, through its School of Law, is an accredited provider of CPD programmes under the relevant Cyprus Bar Association scheme.
Following an introduction by the Chair, Prof. Stéphanie Laulhé Shaelou, Professor of European Law & Reform and Head, School of Law, UCLan Cyprus (www.uclancyprus.ac.cy/academic/dr-laulhe-shaelou-stephanie/), the first key note presentation by Mr. Stylianos Christoforou, Managing Partner, Stylianos Christoforou & Co LLC, entitled “Analysis on the Spirit of the Decisions of the Commissioner for the Protection of Personal Data”, unfolded. Mr. Stylianos Christoforou, being an eminent practitioner in the field and having expertise in handling a large number of cases and incidents related to the GDPR in Cyprus, addressed the webinar by sharing information related to the latest developments on data protection and analysing the recent decisions of the Office of the Commissioner for the Protection of Personal Data. Mr. Christoforou illustrated for participants the extent to which data protection goes deep into the information security policies of enterprises, who either directly or through their DPO, must pay attention to the security of their systems because, ‘a loss of data is not just a loss anymore. It’s a punishable offence!’. The full presentation can be accessed here .
The second keynote presentation was given by Ms. Maria Raphael, Director and Shareholder in I. Frangos & Associates LLC on “International Data Transfers: Compliance and Challenges”. Ms. Raphael addressed the status of International Data Transfers under the GDPR and upcoming developments, presented the European Data Protection Board’s (EDPBs) recent draft guidance on what constitutes International Data Transfer and its recommendations on how to conduct transfer impact assessments and adopting supplementary measures when the law and practice of the importer’s third country impinge on the effectiveness of the transfer tool used. Ms. Raphael discussed practical issues surrounding the use of EU Commission’s Standard Contractual Clauses and possible solutions. Lastly, she analysed the agreement in principle announced on 25.03.2022 by the US and EU for a new transatlantic personal data transfers agreement and whether it can effectively address the concerns of the decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union which invalidated the EU Commission’s EU-US Privacy Shield decision.
On behalf of the Larnaca and Famagusta Bar Associations which she represented, Ms. Maria Raphael stated that “The Bar Associations of Larnaca and Famagusta are delighted to have contributed to this Webinar, which marks our second formal collaborative event with the School of Law of Uclan Cyprus under the MoU signed. We remain committed to the continuous training and education of our members, and we feel confident that Uclan Cyprus is an ally we can count on to accomplish this objective’’.
The webinar was recorded and is disseminated publicly subject to the Policies of UCLan Cyprus, including its Privacy and GDPR Policy, on the University’s website https://www.uclancyprus.ac.cy/category/law-academy/ and/or the Rule of Law Monitoring Mechanism platform of the School of Law, UCLan Cyprus, which is hosted at https://ruleoflawmonitoringmechanism.eu/. You may therefore view the full video here.
In the webinar, each speaker and other participant took part for educational purposes in an educational setting. Accordingly, what each participant provided verbally, electronically, or otherwise must not be accepted or interpreted as either legal advice or any other form of advice. UCLan Cyprus School of Law would like to thank all the speakers, colleagues who worked on the event and the Larnaca and Famagusta Bar Associations for their support.
