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Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) · Chapter IV · Controller and processor

Art. 26 · Joint controllers

Text

  1. Where two or more controllers jointly determine the purposes and means of processing, they shall be joint controllers. They shall in a transparent manner determine their respective responsibilities for compliance with the obligations under this Regulation, in particular as regards the exercising of the rights of the data subject and their respective duties to provide the information referred to in Articles 13 and 14, by means of an arrangement between them unless, and in so far as, the respective responsibilities of the controllers are determined by Union or Member State law to which the controllers are subject. The arrangement may designate a contact point for data subjects.

  2. The arrangement referred to in paragraph 1 shall duly reflect the respective roles and relationships of the joint controllers vis-à-vis the data subjects. The essence of the arrangement shall be made available to the data subject.

  3. Irrespective of the terms of the arrangement referred to in paragraph 1, the data subject may exercise his or her rights under this Regulation in respect of and against each of the controllers.

Text: EUR-Lex, CELEX 32016R0679 (consolidated text with corrigenda).

Commentary

Joint controllers allocate their duties by an arrangement and make the essence of it available to data subjects. The data subject may exercise their rights against any of them, and the arrangement does not bind anyone externally. A website operator who embeds a social-network button that collects visitors' data is also a joint controller (C-40/17 Fashion ID).