# Certification — GDPR — context bundle > Focused context for a single provision, curated from overview.legal on 2026-08-22. Canonical page: https://overview.legal/laws/gdpr/art-42 > Every item cites its source. Verify against the official text (EUR-Lex / wetten.overheid.nl) before relying on it. ## Provision ### Certification — Certification *GDPR, gdpr-art-42-en — https://overview.legal/laws/gdpr/art-42* 1. The Member States, the supervisory authorities, the Board and the Commission shall encourage, in particular at Union level, the establishment of data protection certification mechanisms and of data protection seals and marks, for the purpose of demonstrating compliance with this Regulation of processing operations by controllers and processors. The specific needs of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises shall be taken into account. 2. In addition to adherence by controllers or processors subject to this Regulation, data protection certification mechanisms, seals or marks approved pursuant to paragraph 5 of this Article may be established for the purpose of demonstrating the existence of appropriate safeguards provided by controllers or processors that are not subject to this Regulation pursuant to Article 3 within the framework of personal data transfers to third countries or international organisations under the terms referred to in point (f) of Article 46(2). Such controllers or processors shall make binding and enforceable commitments, via contractual or other legally binding instruments, to apply those appropriate safeguards, including with regard to the rights of data subjects. 3. The certification shall be voluntary and available via a process that is transparent. 4. A certification pursuant to this Article does not reduce the responsibility of the controller or the processor for compliance with this Regulation and is without prejudice to the tasks and powers of the supervisory authorities which are competent pursuant to Article 55 or 56. 5. A certification pursuant to this Article shall be issued by the certification bodies referred to in Article 43 or by the competent supervisory authority, on the basis of criteria approved by that competent supervisory authority pursuant to Article 58(3) or by the Board pursuant to Article 63. Where the criteria are approved by the Board, this may result in a common certification, the European Data Protection Seal. 6. The controller or processor which submits its processing to the certification mechanism shall provide the certification body referred to in Article 43, or where applicable, the competent supervisory authority, with all information and access to its processing activities which are necessary to conduct the certification procedure. 7. Certification shall be issued to a controller or processor for a maximum period of three years and may be renewed, under the same conditions, provided that the relevant requirements continue to be met. Certification shall be withdrawn, as applicable, by the certification bodies referred to in Article 43 or by the competent supervisory authority where the requirements for the certification are not or are no longer met. 8. The Board shall collate all certification mechanisms and data protection seals and marks in a register and shall make them publicly available by any appropriate means. ## Enforcement 1 decision(s) on record cite Article 42, totalling approximately €15,000 in fines (median €15,000). Top fines: - **Flamel S.r.l.: Non-compliance with general data processing principles** (Italy, €15,000) — https://overview.legal/posts/53569 ## Guidance ### Opinion 13/2026 on the draft decision of the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman (FI SA) regarding the approval of the requirement for accreditation of a certification body pursuant to Article 43(3) GDPR *EDPB — https://overview.legal/posts/125674* Opinion 13 /2026 on the draft decision of the Office of the Data Protection Ombudsman (FI SA) regarding the approval of the requirement for accreditation of a certification body pursuant to Article 43(3) GDPR Adopted on 15 April 2026 1 | Adopted 2 | Adopted The European Data Protection Board has adopted the following statement: Having regard to Article 43(3), 63, Article 64 (1)(c) and Article 64(3) - (8) of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016… ### Opinion 15/2026 on the Europrivacy certification criteria regarding their approval by the Board as European Data Protection Seal to be used as tool for transfers pursuant to Articles 42 and 46 GDPR *EDPB — https://overview.legal/posts/125681* Opinion 15 / 2026 on the Europrivacy certification criteria regarding their approval by the Board as European Data Protection Seal to be used as tool for transfers pursuant to Articles 42 and 46 GDPR Adopted on 15 April 2026 1 | Adopted 2 | Adopted The European Data Protection Board Having regard to Article 63, Article 64(2), Article 42 and Article 46 of the Regulation 2016/679/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to… ### Opinion 14/2026 on the Europrivacy certification criteria regarding their approval by the Board as European Data Protection Seal pursuant to Article 42.5 GDPR *EDPB — https://overview.legal/posts/125682* Opinion 14 / 2026 on the Europrivacy certification criteria regarding their approval by the Board as European Data Protection Seal pursuant to Article 42.5 GDPR Adopted on 15 April 2026 1 | Adopted 2 | Adopted The European Data Protection Board Having regard to Article 63, Article 64 (2) and Article 42 of the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free… ### Toets wijziging Meststoffenwet invoering certificering *AP — https://overview.legal/posts/53767* Toets wijziging Meststoffenwet invoering certificering ### Report on stakeholder event on anonymisation and pseudonymisation of 12 December 2025 *EDPB — https://overview.legal/posts/125688* Report on stakeholder event on anonymisation and pseudonymisation of 12 December 2025 1. Background The EDPB organise d a remote stakeholder event on 12 December 2025 to collect stakeholders’ input on anonymisation and pseudonymisation , following the Court of Justice of the European Union ( “ CJEU ” ) judgment in case EDPS v SRB 1 . The objective was to engage with stakeholders to inform the EDPB’s ongoing work on its guidelines 01/2025 on pseudonymisation and f orthcoming guidelines on… ## Related topics - **Certification** — https://overview.legal/topics/certification ## Legal Framework --- Generated by overview.legal · https://overview.legal/laws/gdpr/art-42 · 2026-08-22