The aim of the STAR II project
(Support small and medium enterprises on the data protection reform II)


The STAR II project follows on from the STAR project (Support training activities on the data protection reform), which is nearing completion and focused on providing support to the training activities of DPAs and data protection officers (DPOs) on the EU data protection reform, especially the GDPR. The STAR project was also co-funded by the EU under the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme 2014-2020.

There are pressing needs to assist European Union (EU) data protection authorities (DPAs) in raising awareness among businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), on the new EU legal framework for personal data protection, particularly the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and assist these SMEs in ensuring compliance therewith. The new law and its novelties create much confusion and uncertainty as to its practical application, magnified by its upcoming applicability (May 2018). Some 22 million European SMEs – the core of EU enterprise policy – not only face distinctive challenges from data protection law, but also – despite specific, often protective regulation – rarely can afford professional legal advice. Thus they merit special support from public authorities.

The STAR II project directly addresses these needs and:

  1. reviews the state of the art in DPA awareness-raising activities,
  2. analyses SMEs’ experience within first months of the functioning of the GDPR,
  3. ran an awareness raising campaign for SMEs and
  4. operates a trial hotline (12 months) to respond to SMEs’ questions, measuring its performance and the most frequently asked questions, and – on that basis –
  5. prepares a digital guidance for DPAs on good practices in running a hotline and raising SME awareness, and
  6. draft an innovative, FAQ-based handbook (digital and printed) for SMEs on EU personal data protection law.

These results will be prepared in consultation with stakeholders (especially via validation workshops and the External Advisory Board) and widely disseminated. The outputs will be freely available, openly accessible and copyright-unrestricted, thus easily reusable and adaptable. STAR II is addressed to 40+ EU DPAs and millions of EU SMEs. It will deliver tangible and long-term results to SMEs, directly assisting them in compliance with the GDPR (by hotline and guidance material) and – indirectly – to DPAs, to assist in their awareness-raising mission.


The STAR II project commenced in August 2018 and is intended to run for a two-year period. It is co-funded by the European Union under the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme 2014-2020 and is aimed at: assisting European Union (EU) Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) raise awareness about the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) among small and medium enterprises (SMEs); and assisting SMEs to comply with the GDPR.

The 22 million SMEs in the EU form the core of the EU enterprise policy. These SMEs face distinctive challenges from data protection law and can often not afford professional legal advice. As such, they merit special support from public authorities as recognised by Recital 132 of the GDPR which specifies that when undertaking awareness-raising activities addressed to the public, data protection authorities should include specific measures directed towards, among others, SMEs.

The STAR II project outputs include:

  • An email hotline run by the Nemzeti Adatvédelmi és Információszabadság Hatóság (NAIH) in both Hungarian and English;
  • A guidance document for DPAs on good practices in awareness-raising techniques among SMEs;
  • A handbook for SMEs to help them comply with the GDPR.

The STAR II project (Support small and medium enterprises on the data protection reform II; 2018-2020) is co-funded by the European Union under the Rights, Equality and Citizenship Programme 2014-2020 (REC-RDAT-TRAI-AG-2017) under Grant Agreement No. 814775.