As EU data protection watchers know, the draft General Data Protection Regulation (which has been around long enough to be universally referred to by its acronym, GDPR) exists in three major versions, with a fourth version recently released by the office of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS).  The EDPS is the EU’s own internal privacy cop and, of course, a significant commentator on EU data protection matters.

The authors of the EU Parliament and Council drafts used their own unique editing styles to show their changes to the Commission’s original draft, which makes it a challenge to compare all three drafts.  The EDPS has made the drafts a bit more accessible to the public by launching an app to display the drafts side by side (two at a time) on a smart phone or tablet.  There’s a Google Play and an Apple AppStore version – links here.   I’ve tried the Apple version of the app and am pleased to report that it works well. The interface is easy to use.  There’s a search function (remember to use British spellings, like “pseudonymisation” and “unauthorised”).

The EDPS has also prepared a PDF version showing the four drafts in columns, but it’s not a particularly user-friendly format.  As a lawyer, I’d prefer nice clean copies of the four versions in a form I could redline, but failing that, I’ll take the app!

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