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Article 90
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Obligations of secrecy

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(164) As regards the powers of the supervisory authorities to obtain from the controller or processor access to personal data and access to their premises, Member States may adopt by law, within the limits of this Regulation, specific rules in order to safeguard the professional or other equivalent secrecy obligations, in so far as necessary to reconcile the right to the protection of personal data with an obligation of professional secrecy. This is without prejudice to existing Member State obligations to adopt rules on professional secrecy where required by Union law.

There is no recital in the Directive related to article 90.

The GDPR

For the record, pursuant to Article 58, paragraph 1, points e) and f), the supervisory authorities have investigative powers allowing them access to the processed data, the processing means, and to the premises of the controller which can cause difficulties when the controller or the intended processor is subject to a duty of professional secrecy.

It is therefore logical that Article 90 allows Member States to adopt specific rules to protect the professional secret or other equivalent obligations of secrecy in such cases.

Each Member State must consider if such rules are necessary and proportionate for reconciling the right to personal data protection and the obligation of secrecy.

The rules on confidentiality that can be adopted by the Member States in order to define the powers of the supervisory authorities are limited to the personal data that the controller or the processor has received or obtained as part of an activity covered by the obligation of secrecy.

Finally, Article 90 (2) imposes on the Member States the obligation to notify the Commission of the rules adopted pursuant to this provision within two years after the publication of the Regulation in the Official Journal of the European Union; any subsequent amendment to these rules must be notified without delay to the Commission.

The Directive

The Directive included no similar provision.

Potential issues

Again, there is no harmonisation of the law made by the Regulation as it is up to the Member States to define such rules as they see fit.

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Regulation
1e 2e

Art. 90

1.   Member States may adopt specific rules to set out the powers of the supervisory authorities laid down in points (e) and (f) of Article 58(1) in relation to controllers or processors that are subject, under Union or Member State law or rules established by national competent bodies, to an obligation of professional secrecy or other equivalent obligations of secrecy where this is necessary and proportionate to reconcile the right of the protection of personal data with the obligation of secrecy. Those rules shall apply only with regard to personal data which the controller or processor has received as a result of or has obtained in an activity covered by that obligation of secrecy.

2.   Each Member State shall notify to the Commission the rules adopted pursuant to paragraph 1, by 25 May 2018 and, without delay, any subsequent amendment affecting them.
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Art. 84 

1. Within the limits of this Regulation, Member States may adopt specific rules to set out the investigative powers by the supervisory authorities laid down in Article 53(2) in relation to controllers or processors that are subjects under national law or rules established by national competent bodies to an obligation of professional secrecy or other equivalent obligations of secrecy, where this is necessary and proportionate to reconcile the right of the protection of personal data with the obligation of secrecy. These rules shall only apply with regard to personal data which the controller or processor has received from or has obtained in an activity covered by this obligation of secrecy.

2. Each Member State shall notify to the Commission the rules adopted pursuant to paragraph 1, by the date specified in Article 91(2) at the latest and, without delay, any subsequent amendment affecting them.
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Art. 84 

1. (…) Member States may adopt specific rules to set out the (…) powers by the supervisory authorities laid down in points (da) and (db) of Article 53(1) in relation to controllers or processors that are subjects under Union or Member State law or rules established by national competent bodies to an obligation of professional secrecy, other equivalent obligations of secrecy or to a code of professional ethics supervised and enforced by professional bodies, where this is necessary and proportionate to reconcile the right of the protection of personal data with the obligation of secrecy. These rules shall only apply with regard to personal data which the controller or processor has received from or has obtained in an activity covered by this obligation of secrecy.

2. Each Member State shall notify to the Commission the rules adopted pursuant to paragraph 1, by the date specified in Article 91(2) at the latest and, without delay, any subsequent amendment affecting them.
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No specific provision
Czechia
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Act No. 110/2019 Coll., on the Processing of Personal Data, as amended

Art. 58

The Office’s Authority to Access Information

(1) The Office is authorized to review all information necessary for the performance of a specific task. This applies even to information protected by a duty of confidentiality under another legal regulation, unless another legal regulation establishes different conditions for the Office’s access to such data.

(2) The Office is authorized to review information protected by a duty of confidentiality under the Act on the Legal Profession only in the presence of and with the consent of a representative of the Czech Bar Association (hereinafter referred to as the “Bar”), who shall be appointed by the President of the Bar from among its employees or from among attorneys. If the representative of the Bar refuses to grant consent, he or she shall, upon written request by the Office, immediately ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the information referred to in the first sentence and shall immediately forward the Office’s written request to the Supervisory Board of the Bar for the Supervisory Board’s decision to replace the representative’s consent. If the Chamber’s Supervisory Board does not decide on the Office’s request to replace the consent of the Chamber’s representative within 30 days of the date of delivery of the request by the Chamber’s representative, the consent of the Chamber’s representative may be replaced, upon the Office’s motion, by a court decision pursuant to the Act on Special Judicial Proceedings.

(3) The Office is authorized to access information protected by the duty of confidentiality under the Tax Advisory Services Act and the Chamber of Tax Advisors of the Czech Republic only in the presence of and with the consent of a representative of the Chamber of Tax Advisors of the Czech Republic, who shall be appointed by the President of the Chamber of Tax Advisors of the Czech Republic from among its employees or from among tax advisors. If the representative of the Chamber of Tax Advisors of the Czech Republic refuses to grant consent, upon written request by the Office, he or she shall immediately ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the information referred to in the first sentence and shall immediately forward to the Supervisory Committee of the Chamber of Tax Advisors of the Czech Republic the Office’s written request to replace the consent of the representative of the Chamber of Tax Advisors of the Czech Republic with a decision of the Supervisory Committee of the Chamber of Tax Advisors of the Czech Republic. If the Supervisory Committee of the Chamber of Tax Advisors of the Czech Republic does not decide on the Office’s request by replacing the consent of the representative of the Chamber of Tax Advisors of the Czech Republic within 30 days of the date of delivery of the request by the representative of the Chamber of Tax Advisors of the Czech Republic, the consent of the representative of the Chamber of Tax Advisors of the Czech Republic may be replaced, upon the Office’s motion, by a court decision pursuant to the Act on Special Judicial Proceedings.

(4) The Office shall exclude from access to the file any information that constitutes a trade, banking, or other similar legally protected secret; information protected by copyright; and information referred to in the second sentence of paragraph 1 or in paragraph 2, if it grants access to the file to a person other than the person from whom such information was obtained. In proceedings concerning the imposition of an obligation, the Office shall make information excluded under the first sentence available to the party to the proceedings if such information has been or will be used as evidence. Before the information is made available, the party to the proceedings or their representative must be instructed regarding the protection afforded to the information; a record of this instruction shall be drawn up. The right of access to such information does not include the right to make extracts or the right to make copies of the information.

(5) Paragraph 1 does not affect the obligation of the person conducting the inspection to prove their authorization to access classified information.
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