We recently translated from English into French a formal letter addressed to the Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés (CNIL), drafted by an e-commerce company in the context of a transfer of personal data outside the European Economic Area (EEA).
An Official Exchange Under GDPR
The letter addressed, among other things:
The objective was to inform the CNIL transparently while justifying the compliance of the transfer operation with the GDPR.
A Precision Translation for a Regulatory Authority
This type of document requires:
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full command of GDPR legal vocabulary,
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the ability to maintain the institutional and formal tone expected by a supervisory authority,
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and constant attention to consistency between European and Anglo-Saxon legal concepts.
📌 Key Contextual Translations
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personal data transfer → transfert de données à caractère personnel
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processing → traitement
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processors → sous-traitants
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standard contractual clauses → clauses contractuelles types
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European Economic Area → Espace économique européen
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data protection laws → législation relative à la protection des données
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technical and organizational measures → mesures techniques et organisationnelles
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data subjects → personnes concernées
❓ FAQ: translating a letter to the CNIL on a data transfer
Which GDPR terms recur in this kind of letter?
The regulation's core notions. "Processing" becomes traitement, "processors" sous-traitants, "standard contractual clauses" clauses contractuelles types and "data subjects" personnes concernées — settled equivalents that should be reproduced, not paraphrased.