General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)

What is it?

What is it?

The "General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)" is a comprehensive data protection and privacy law enacted by the European Union (EU) to regulate the processing of personal data of individuals within the EU and European Economic Area (EEA). GDPR aims to strengthen data privacy rights, enhance control over personal information, and impose obligations on organizations handling data to ensure transparency, security, and accountability.

Key points to remember

Key points to remember

  • Scope: GDPR applies to all organizations that process the personal data of individuals residing in the EU or EEA, regardless of the organization's location, size, or industry sector. It broadly defines personal data, including names, email addresses, IP addresses, and other identifiable information.

  • Principles: GDPR is based on several fundamental principles, including lawfulness, fairness, and transparency in data processing; purpose limitation; data minimization; accuracy; storage limitation; integrity and confidentiality (security); and accountability.


  • Rights of Data Subjects: GDPR grants individuals various rights over their data, including the right to access, rectify, erase ("right to be forgotten"), restrict processing, data portability, object to processing, and not be subject to automated decision-making.


  • Data Protection Measures: Organizations subject to GDPR must implement technical and organizational measures to ensure the security, confidentiality, and integrity of personal data, including measures such as encryption, access controls, data minimization, and regular data protection impact assessments (DPIAs).


  • Compliance and Penalties: Compliance with GDPR requires organizations to adopt policies, procedures, and documentation demonstrating accountability and compliance with GDPR principles and obligations. Non-compliance with GDPR can result in significant fines and penalties, including fines of up to €20 million or 4% of annual global turnover, whichever is higher.

Example of Use

Example of Use

  1. Consent Management: An online retailer implements GDPR-compliant consent management processes, obtaining explicit consent from customers before collecting and processing their personal data for marketing purposes.


  2. Data Breach Response: A technology company experiences a data breach involving the unauthorized access of customer data. Under GDPR, the company promptly notifies affected individuals and supervisory authorities, conducts a thorough investigation, and takes remedial actions to mitigate the breach's impact and prevent future incidents.

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