Article 14 GDPR

← Article 14: Information to be provided where personal data have not been obtained from the data subject →
Chapter 1: General provisions Article 1: Subject-matter and objectives Article 2: Material scope Article 3: Territorial scope Article 4: Definitions Chapter 2: Principles Article 5: Principles relating to processing of personal data Article 6: Lawfulness of processing Article 7: Conditions for consent Article 8: Conditions applicable to child’s consent in relation to information society services Article 9: Processing of special categories of personal data Article 10: Processing of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences Article 11: Processing which does not require identification Chapter 3: Rights of the data subject Article 12: Transparent information, communication and modalities for the exercise of the rights of the data subject Article 13: Information to be provided where personal data are collected from the data subject Article 14: Information to be provided where personal data have not been obtained from the data subject Article 15: Right of access by the data subject Article 16: Right to rectification Article 17: Right to erasure (‘right to be forgotten’) Article 18: Right to restriction of processing Article 19: Notification obligation regarding rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing Article 20: Right to data portability Article 21: Right to object Article 22: Automated individual decision-making, including profiling Article 23: Restrictions Chapter 4: Controller and processor Article 24: Responsibility of the controller Article 25: Data protection by design and by default Article 26: Joint controllers Article 27: Representatives of controllers or processors not established in the Union Article 28: Processor Article 29: Processing under the authority of the controller or processor Article 30: Records of processing activities Article 31: Cooperation with the supervisory authority Article 32: Security of processing Article 33: Notification of a personal data breach to the supervisory authority Article 34: Communication of a personal data breach to the data subject Article 35: Data protection impact assessment Article 36: Prior consultation Article 37: Designation of the data protection officer Article 38: Position of the data protection officer Article 39: Tasks of the data protection officer Article 40: Codes of conduct Article 41: Monitoring of approved codes of conduct Article 42: Certification Article 43: Certification bodies Chapter 5: Transfers of personal data Article 44: General principle for transfers Article 45: Transfers on the basis of an adequacy decision Article 46: Transfers subject to appropriate safeguards Article 47: Binding corporate rules Article 48: Transfers or disclosures not authorised by Union law Article 49: Derogations for specific situations Article 50: International cooperation for the protection of personal data Chapter 6: Supervisory authorities Article 51: Supervisory authority Article 52: Independence Article 53: General conditions for the members of the supervisory authority Article 54: Rules on the establishment of the supervisory authority Article 55: Competence Article 56: Competence of the lead supervisory authority Article 57: Tasks Article 58: Powers Article 59: Activity reports Chapter 7: Cooperation and consistency Article 60: Cooperation between the lead supervisory authority and the other supervisory authorities concerned Article 61: Mutual assistance Article 62: Joint operations of supervisory authorities Article 63: Consistency mechanism Article 64: Opinion of the Board Article 65: Dispute resolution by the Board Article 66: Urgency procedure Article 67: Exchange of information Article 68: European Data Protection Board Article 69: Independence Article 70: Tasks of the Board Article 71: Reports Article 72: Procedure Article 73: Chair Article 74: Tasks of the Chair Article 75: Secretariat Article 76: Confidentiality Chapter 8: Remedies, liability and penalties Article 77: Right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority Article 78: Right to an effective judicial remedy against a supervisory authority Article 79: Right to an effective judicial remedy against a controller or processor Article 80: Representation of data subjects Article 81: Suspension of proceedings Article 82: Right to compensation and liability Article 83: General conditions for imposing administrative fines Article 84: Penalties Chapter 9: Specific processing situations Article 85: Processing and freedom of expression and information Article 86: Processing and public access to official documents Article 87: Processing of the national identification number Article 88: Processing in the context of employment Article 89: Safeguards and derogations relating to processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes Article 90: Obligations of secrecy Article 91: Existing data protection rules of churches and religious associations Chapter 10: Delegated and implementing acts Article 92: Exercise of the delegation Article 93: Committee procedure Chapter 11: Final provisions Article 94: Repeal of Directive 95: /46: /EC Article 95: Relationship with Directive 20: 02: /58: /EC Article 96: Relationship with previously concluded Agreements Article 97: Commission reports Article 98: Review of other Union legal acts on data protection Article 99: Entry into force and application

Legal Text

Article 14: Information to be provided where personal data have not been obtained from the data subject

1. Where personal data have not been obtained from the data subject, the controller shall provide the data subject with the following information:

(a) the identity and the contact details of the controller and, where applicable, of the controller's representative;

(b) the contact details of the data protection officer, where applicable;

(c) the purposes of the processing for which the personal data are intended as well as the legal basis for the processing;

(d) the categories of personal data concerned;

(e) the recipients or categories of recipients of the personal data, if any;

(f) where applicable, that the controller intends to transfer personal data to a recipient in a third country or international organisation and the existence or absence of an adequacy decision by the Commission, or in the case of transfers referred to in Article 46 or 47, or the second subparagraph of Article 49(1), reference to the appropriate or suitable safeguards and the means to obtain a copy of them or where they have been made available.

2. In addition to the information referred to in paragraph 1, the controller shall provide the data subject with the following information necessary to ensure fair and transparent processing in respect of the data subject:

(a) the period for which the personal data will be stored, or if that is not possible, the criteria used to determine that period;

(b) where the processing is based on point (f) of Article 6(1), the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party;

(c) the existence of the right to request from the controller access to and rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing concerning the data subject and to object to processing as well as the right to data portability;

(d) where processing is based on point (a) of Article 6(1) or point (a) of Article 9(2), the existence of the right to withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal;

(e) the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority;

(f) from which source the personal data originate, and if applicable, whether it came from publicly accessible sources;

(g) the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling, referred to in Article 22(1) and (4) and, at least in those cases, meaningful information about the logic involved, as well as the significance and the envisaged consequences of such processing for the data subject.

3. The controller shall provide the information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2:

(a) within a reasonable period after obtaining the personal data, but at the latest within one month, having regard to the specific circumstances in which the personal data are processed;

(b) if the personal data are to be used for communication with the data subject, at the latest at the time of the first communication to that data subject; or

(c) if a disclosure to another recipient is envisaged, at the latest when the personal data are first disclosed.

4. Where the controller intends to further process the personal data for a purpose other than that for which the personal data were obtained, the controller shall provide the data subject prior to that further processing with information on that other purpose and with any relevant further information as referred to in paragraph 2.

5. Paragraphs 1 to 4 shall not apply where and insofar as:

(a) the data subject already has the information;

(b) the provision of such information proves impossible or would involve a disproportionate effort, in particular for processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes, subject to the conditions and safeguards referred to in Article 89(1) or in so far as the obligation referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article is likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of the objectives of that processing. In such cases the controller shall take appropriate measures to protect the data subject's rights and freedoms and legitimate interests, including making the information publicly available;

(c) obtaining or disclosure is expressly laid down by Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject and which provides appropriate measures to protect the data subject's legitimate interests; or

(d) where the personal data must remain confidential subject to an obligation of professional secrecy regulated by Union or Member State law, including a statutory obligation of secrecy.

Relevant Recitals

Recital 60: Information Requirements

The principles of fair and transparent processing require that the data subject be informed of the existence of the processing operation and its purposes. The controller should provide the data subject with any further information necessary to ensure fair and transparent processing taking into account the specific circumstances and context in which the personal data are processed. Furthermore, the data subject should be informed of the existence of profiling and the consequences of such profiling. Where the personal data are collected from the data subject, the data subject should also be informed whether he or she is obliged to provide the personal data and of the consequences, where he or she does not provide such data. That information may be provided in combination with standardised icons in order to give in an easily visible, intelligible and clearly legible manner, a meaningful overview of the intended processing. Where the icons are presented electronically, they should be machine-readable.

Recital 61: Time of Information Provision

The information in relation to the processing of personal data relating to the data subject should be given to him or her at the time of collection from the data subject, or, where the personal data are obtained from another source, within a reasonable period, depending on the circumstances of the case. Where personal data can be legitimately disclosed to another recipient, the data subject should be informed when the personal data are first disclosed to the recipient. Where the controller intends to process the personal data for a purpose other than that for which they were collected, the controller should provide the data subject prior to that further processing with information on that other purpose and other necessary information. Where the origin of the personal data cannot be provided to the data subject because various sources have been used, general information should be provided.

Recital 62: Exceptions to Information Requirement

However, it is not necessary to impose the obligation to provide information where the data subject already possesses the information, where the recording or disclosure of the personal data is expressly laid down by law or where the provision of information to the data subject proves to be impossible or would involve a disproportionate effort. The latter could in particular be the case where processing is carried out for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes. In that regard, the number of data subjects, the age of the data and any appropriate safeguards adopted should be taken into consideration.

Commentary on Article 14

(1) Information the Controller Shall Provide When Personal Data Has Not Been Obtained From the Data Subject

As previously mentioned, Articles 13 and 14 GDPR both give expression to the principle of transparency enshrined in Article 5(1)(a) GDPR, by obliging the controllers to provide specific pieces of information to the data subjects either before or shortly after obtaining the data.

While Article 13 GDPR applies in situations where personal data are collected directly from the data subjects (i.e. direct collection), Article 14 GDPR applies in situations where personal data have not been obtained from the data subjects but rather from a third party (i.e. indirect collection).

Since Article 13 GDPR and Article 14 GDPR are almost identical in content, the below Commentary will mostly refer to the corresponding sections of the Commentary on Article 13 GDPR. One substantial difference between those two Articles however is the existence of an additional obligation for controllers when Article 14 GDPR applies : the obligation to reveal "from which source the personal data originates and, if applicable, whether it came from a publicly accessible source" (Article 14(2)(f) GDPR). Another difference in case of indirect collection lies in the modalities for communicating the information to the data subjects, and in particular the timing for providing such information. More specifically, while, in case of direct collection, controllers must inform data subjects at the latest at the moment the data are obtained, in case of indirect collection, controllers can provide the information later (see below, section 3, "How Information on Processing Should Be Provided").

(a) Identity and Contact Details of the Controller

See Commentary on Article 13.

(b) Contact Details of the Data Protection Officer

See Commentary on Article 13.

(c) Purposes and Legal Basis

See Commentary on Article 13.

(d) Categories of Personal Data

The controller must provide the data subjects with information on the categories of personal data that have been indirectly obtained. The rationale behind that provision is to allow the data subjects to contextualize the processing and better understand its material scope. When data are directly collected from the data subjects, as envisaged in Article 13 GDPR, the latter normally already know which data are being processed since they provided them to the controller (for example, by filling an online form, agreeing to cookies usage, etc). By contrast, when the controller obtains the data from a third party, as envisaged in Article 14 GDPR, the data subjects may not be aware of which personal data are being processed, hence the importance of providing this additional piece of information to them.

The term 'category' is not defined in the GDPR, or perhaps only indirectly through the enumeration of special categories of personal data in Article 9 GDPR (e.g. data relating to health, political opinions, ethnic origin, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, etc). On this basis, one may consider each special category of personal data as an example of a 'category of personal data' in the sense of Article 14(2)(d) GDPR. Yet, in some instances, simply referring to 'health data' as a category may be too ambiguous, given that it may cover one simple information, such as the weight of the data subject, or on the contrary "a myriad of information", such as the weight, height, heat rate, blood pressure, etc.

Keeping both elements in mind, the level of details that a controller must provide when describing the categories of personal data is often not straightforward. As a general rule, however, the controller should be specific enough to meet the reasonable expectations of the data subjects, in accordance with the principle of fairness and transparency, while presenting such information in a concise and intelligible form.

For example, when a data subject orders a good online with controller A, it may be sufficient for controller B to indicate that it has obtained the 'contact details' of the data subject from controller A for the purpose of delivery. Such contact details should however normally be limited to personal data that are indeed necessary for the delivery, i.e. the name and postal address of the data subject. If controller B also obtained the email address and phone number of the data subject from controller A, simply indicating 'contact details' may be insufficient. Rather, controller B should clearly indicate that it also collected the email address and phone number of the data subject, and also specify the purpose of such processing, in accordance with Article 14(1)(c) GDPR (e.g. being able to contact the data subject in advance to determine a specific time for the delivery).

(e) Recipients

See Commentary on Article 13.

(f) International Transfers

See Commentary on Article 13.

(2) Obligation to Provide Further Information at the Time When Personal Data are Obtained

(a) Retention Period

See Commentary on Article 13.

(b) Legitimate Interests

See Commentary on Article 13.

(c) Information About Data Subject's Rights

See Commentary on Article 13.

(d) Information About the Right to Withdraw Consent

See Commentary on Article 13.

(e) The Right to Lodge a Complaint

See Commentary on Article 13.

(f) Source of Personal Data

In case of indirect collection of personal data, Article 14(2)(f) GDPR provides that the controller must inform the data subjects about the source of such data. In particular, if the data have been obtained from a publicly accessible source, the controller must indicate it. In most cases however, controllers may obtain personal data from third parties, for example from data brokers, affiliates, business partners or other controllers.

One of the rationale behind the obligation to disclose the source of the data is to allow the data subjects to object to the processing conducted not only by the secondary controller but also by the controller from which the data originated. In some instances indeed, a myriad of controllers and processors may share personal data among themselves, thereby creating a chain of transmission which may become daunting to the data subjects. Pursuant to Article(2)(f) GDPR however, because each of these controllers are under the obligation to disclose where the data came from, the data subjects should always be able to trace back the original source of the personal data, and possibly challenge the entire chain of processing, where applicable.

Recital 61 GDPR provides for an exemption to the obligation to inform the data subject about the source of the data. More specifically, it states that “where the origin of the personal data cannot be provided to the data subject because various sources have been used, general information should be provided”. This exemption thus only applies where it is not possible for the controller to name a source because various pieces of information relating to the same individual have been collected from a multitude of sources and can therefore not be attributed to a single source. The difficulty to trace back the source(s) of the personal data should however not be systematically used as an excuse by the controller, or be the result of the controller's own negligence, or representative of a failure to implement the principle of privacy by default and by design. For example, the WP29 considers that "the mere fact that a database comprising the personal data of multiple data subjects has been compiled by a data controller using more than one source is not enough to lift this requirement if it is possible (although time consuming or burdensome) to identify the source from which the personal data of individual data subjects derived." In any case, if the specific source cannot be named, then the controller should at least provide general information regarding the source(s), such as their nature (i.e. public or private) or the types of organization, industry or sector concerned (e.g. national register of companies).

(g) Automated Decision-Making

See Commentary on Article 13.

(3) When Information on Processing Should be Provided

As mentioned above, another difference between Article 13 and 14 GDPR concerns the time at which the information must be provided to the data subjects. Under Article 14(3) GDPR, three different scenarios are envisaged, each having their own time limit. While the first case scenario should be considered as establishing a general time limit of one-month, the two other scenarios may lead to a shortening of this one-month time limit.

(a) Personal Data Collected with no Intention to Contact the Data Subject or Disclose the Data to a Third Party

Article 14(3) GDPR introduces a general rule, according to which controllers must provide the mandatory information to data subjects "within a reasonable period after obtaining the personal data", and at the latest within a month from the day of the indirect collection.

Two other case-scenario may however shorten that time-limit, as further explained below (point (b) and (c)).

(b) Personal Data Collected with the Intention to Contact the Data Subjects

Article 14(3)(b) GDPR states that if the personal data are to be used for communication with the data subject, then the controller must provide all mandatory information under Article 14 GDPR "at the latest at the time of the first communication to that data subject." If the contact is not made within the first month of the collection of the data however, the general rule established under Article 13(3)(a) GDPR should apply instead (i.e. time limit of one-month as a maximum).

For example, if a recruitment agency collects publicly available personal data from various platforms such as LinkedIn or Xing in order to contact specific profiles about new career opportunities, the recruitment agency should imperatively join a privacy notice containing all information listed in Article 14(2) and (3) in the first email or message sent to these data subjects. In accordance with the general rule established under Article 14(3)(a), however, if the recruitment agency delays this first communication, the information must in any case be provided within the general applicable one-month time limit.

(b) Personal Data Collected with the Intention to Disclose Them to a Third Party

Article 14(3)(c) GDPR states that if the personal data are to be disclosed to another recipient, then the controller must provide all mandatory information under Article 14 GDPR "at the latest when the personal data are first disclosed". If the disclosure is not made within the first month of the collection of the data, however, the general rule established under Article 13(3)(a) GDPR should apply instead (i.e. time limit one-month as a maximum).

(4) Information on the Further Processing of Personal Data

See Commentary on Article 13.

(5) Exemptions

The controller is exempted from its obligation to inform the data subjects under Article 14 GDPR when (i) the information is impossible to provide, when (ii) providing such information involves a disproportionate effort, or when (iii) providing such information is likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of the objectives of the processing.  In such cases, the controller must take appropriate measures to protect the data subject’s rights and freedoms and legitimate interests (Article 14(5)(b) GDPR).

Controllers may not abusively rely on these exemptions. As a matter of general principle, all exceptions to the right to information must be interpreted restrictively and applied narrowly. In particular:

• as far as the first exemption is concerned, the controller must demonstrate that it cannot objectively inform the concerned individuals. There must be an objective ground that prevents the controller from giving information. The mere fact that a database has been compiled by a data controller using more than one source is not enough to exempt the controller from its information obligation.

• as far as the second exemption is concerned, the controller must demonstrate that the provision of information to the data subjects would involve a disproportionate effort, notably because of the number of data subjects, or the age of the data. The disproportionate effort must result from the fact that the personal data has been collected through an intermediary. Furthermore, the controller must carry out a balancing test, which weighs, on the one side, the cost or impact of the investment and efforts to be made and, on the other, the effects that the absence of information could have on the data subjects. This assessment must be documented and must result in the implementation of appropriate measures. One appropriate measure may be to render the information publicly available on the controller’s website or in a newspaper; other effective measures could be the realization of a Data Protection Impact Assessment, the application of pseudonymisation techniques, or the minimization of the personal data collected.  For instance, this scenario would be relevant in the case of data harvesting, because it is often performed on social media or on websites containing information from a lot of people from all around the world, which renders the provision of information costly and more difficult. Of course, it calls for a careful analysis and for a balance of interests as described above.

• as far as the third exemption is concerned, the controller has to demonstrate that informing individuals would seriously impair or nullify the objectives of the processing. For instance, a research project where the information of data subjects can create biases that nullify the scientific results.

Whether a controller can legitimately rely on one of the three above-mentioned exemptions must be appreciated on a case-by-case basis, taking into account all relevant circumstances. Some processing purposes may, because of their nature, offer better ground for justification when invoking an exemption. As a way of illustration, Article 14(5) GDPR specifically refers to (i) processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, (ii) processing for scientific or historical research purposes or (iii) processing statistical purposes. Such processing indeed may involve the collection of large quantities of data from various sources, with no possibility to reach out to all data subjects. The controller will however usually be in a position to implement technical and operational measures to better guarantee the respect of the right to privacy and data protection of data subjects, for example by pseudonymising the personal data, restricting access to it to a small group of researchers/statisticians, and only disclosing anonymized results.

Decisions

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