A controller refers to the entity that determines the “purposes and means” of how personal data will be processed. Determining the “means” of processing refers to deciding “how” information will be processed.1 That does not necessarily mean, however, that a controller must make every decision with respect to the processing of information.

The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) distinguishes between “essential means” and “non-essential means.”2 Essential means refers to those processing decisions that are closely linked to the purpose and the scope of processing and, therefore, considered by the EDPB to be “traditionally and inherently reserved to the controller.”3 In other words, essential means are decisions regarding how personal data will be processed that a controller cannot delegate to a third party. The EDPB has taken the position that one of the essential means of processing that should be decided by a controller is the determination of the “categories of [data] recipients.”4 Put differently, a controller is expected to answer the question of “who shall have access” to personal data.5 If a processor takes it upon itself to decide which third parties should be permitted to receive personal data, there is a chance that a supervisory authority may view the processor as acting in the capacity of a controller.

1 EDPB, Guidelines 07/2020 on the concepts of controller and processor in the GDPR, Version 1, adopted 2 Sept. 2020, at ¶ 33.

2 EDPB, Guidelines 07/2020 on the concepts of controller and processor in the GDPR, Version 1, adopted 2 Sept. 2020, at ¶ 38.

3 EDPB, Guidelines 07/2020 on the concepts of controller and processor in the GDPR, Version 1, adopted 2 Sept. 2020, at ¶ 38.

4 EDPB, Guidelines 07/2020 on the concepts of controller and processor in the GDPR, Version 1, adopted 2 Sept. 2020, at ¶ 38.

5 EDPB, Guidelines 07/2020 on the concepts of controller and processor in the GDPR, Version 1, adopted 2 Sept. 2020, at ¶ 38.