Who is tasked with promoting monitoring and enforcing the GDPR?

The correct answer is that supervisory authorities are responsible for promoting, monitoring, and enforcing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Each European Union member state has established a supervisory authority, which acts as an independent public authority. These authorities are empowered to ensure compliance with data protection laws, provide guidance and advice to organizations, handle complaints from the public, and impose penalties for non-compliance.

Supervisory authorities play a crucial role in upholding data subjects' rights and ensuring that both data controllers and processors adhere to the GDPR's requirements. Their activities include conducting investigations, audits, and issuing guidance regarding best practices in data protection.

In contrast, other options such as processors and controllers have specific roles within the GDPR framework but are not tasked with overarching monitoring and enforcement responsibilities. Processors handle personal data on behalf of controllers, while controllers determine the purposes and means of processing personal data. The European Data Protection Supervisor oversees EU institutions and bodies specifically, rather than enforcing GDPR on a broader, national level across member states. This delineation of roles emphasizes the distinct function of supervisory authorities in safeguarding data protection rights throughout the EU.