Article 4 GDPR
Legal Text
For the purposes of this Regulation:
1. ‘personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person;
2. ‘processing’ means any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction;
3. ‘restriction of processing’ means the marking of stored personal data with the aim of limiting their processing in the future;
4. ‘profiling’ means any form of automated processing of personal data consisting of the use of personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyse or predict aspects concerning that natural person's performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behaviour, location or movements;
5. ‘pseudonymisation’ means the processing of personal data in such a manner that the personal data can no longer be attributed to a specific data subject without the use of additional information, provided that such additional information is kept separately and is subject to technical and organisational measures to ensure that the personal data are not attributed to an identified or identifiable natural person;
6. ‘filing system’ means any structured set of personal data which are accessible according to specific criteria, whether centralised, decentralised or dispersed on a functional or geographical basis;
7. ‘controller’ means the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law;
8. ‘processor’ means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller;
9. ‘recipient’ means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or another body, to which the personal data are disclosed, whether a third party or not. However, public authorities which may receive personal data in the framework of a particular inquiry in accordance with Union or Member State law shall not be regarded as recipients; the processing of those data by those public authorities shall be in compliance with the applicable data protection rules according to the purposes of the processing;
10. ‘third party’ means a natural or legal person, public authority, agency or body other than the data subject, controller, processor and persons who, under the direct authority of the controller or processor, are authorised to process personal data;
11. ‘consent’ of the data subject means any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject's wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her;
12. ‘personal data breach’ means a breach of security leading to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data transmitted, stored or otherwise processed;
13. ‘genetic data’ means personal data relating to the inherited or acquired genetic characteristics of a natural person which give unique information about the physiology or the health of that natural person and which result, in particular, from an analysis of a biological sample from the natural person in question;
14. ‘biometric data’ means personal data resulting from specific technical processing relating to the physical, physiological or behavioural characteristics of a natural person, which allow or confirm the unique identification of that natural person, such as facial images or dactyloscopic data;
15. ‘data concerning health’ means personal data related to the physical or mental health of a natural person, including the provision of health care services, which reveal information about his or her health status;
16. ‘main establishment’ means:
- (a) as regards a controller with establishments in more than one Member State, the place of its central administration in the Union, unless the decisions on the purposes and means of the processing of personal data are taken in another establishment of the controller in the Union and the latter establishment has the power to have such decisions implemented, in which case the establishment having taken such decisions is to be considered to be the main establishment;
- (b) as regards a processor with establishments in more than one Member State, the place of its central administration in the Union, or, if the processor has no central administration in the Union, the establishment of the processor in the Union where the main processing activities in the context of the activities of an establishment of the processor take place to the extent that the processor is subject to specific obligations under this Regulation;
17. ‘representative’ means a natural or legal person established in the Union who, designated by the controller or processor in writing pursuant to Article 27, represents the controller or processor with regard to their respective obligations under this Regulation;
18. ‘enterprise’ means a natural or legal person engaged in an economic activity, irrespective of its legal form, including partnerships or associations regularly engaged in an economic activity;
19. ‘group of undertakings’ means a controlling undertaking and its controlled undertakings;
20. ‘binding corporate rules’ means personal data protection policies which are adhered to by a controller or processor established on the territory of a Member State for transfers or a set of transfers of personal data to a controller or processor in one or more third countries within a group of undertakings, or group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity;
21. ‘supervisory authority’ means an independent public authority which is established by a Member State pursuant to Article 51;
22. ‘supervisory authority concerned’ means a supervisory authority which is concerned by the processing of personal data because:
- (a) the controller or processor is established on the territory of the Member State of that supervisory authority;
- (b) data subjects residing in the Member State of that supervisory authority are substantially affected or likely to be substantially affected by the processing; or
- (c) a complaint has been lodged with that supervisory authority;
23. ‘cross-border processing’ means either:
- (a) processing of personal data which takes place in the context of the activities of establishments in more than one Member State of a controller or processor in the Union where the controller or processor is established in more than one Member State; or
- (b) processing of personal data which takes place in the context of the activities of a single establishment of a controller or processor in the Union but which substantially affects or is likely to substantially affect data subjects in more than one Member State.
24. ‘relevant and reasoned objection’ means an objection to a draft decision as to whether there is an infringement of this Regulation, or whether envisaged action in relation to the controller or processor complies with this Regulation, which clearly demonstrates the significance of the risks posed by the draft decision as regards the fundamental rights and freedoms of data subjects and, where applicable, the free flow of personal data within the Union;
25. ‘information society service’ means a service as defined in point (b) of Article 1(1) of Directive (EU) 2015/1535 of the European Parliament and of the Council;
26. ‘international organisation’ means an organisation and its subordinate bodies governed by public international law, or any other body which is set up by, or on the basis of, an agreement between two or more countries.
Relevant Recitals
Personal Data
Commentary
Article 4 GDPR provides a list of definitions used to further specify relevant notions used throughout the GDPR.
In the case of new definitions, on the other hand, there is scope for new interpretations.
Some definitions are taken from the preceding Directive 95/46/EC, allowing an understanding to build on the already existing terms. Others definitions, however, are newly introduced, modified or complemented with additional elements and therefore require a new interpretation.
In order to avoid linguistic inconsistencies leading to an inconsistent application of the law, it should be noted that the Regulation is legally binding in all official languages of the EU. Therefore, whenever in doubt of the interpretation, other language versions may be consulted to identify and resolve discrepancies.
(1) Personal Data
The principal concept of the GDPR is that of ‘personal data’.[1]
Its definition is an extension of the previously existing definition under Article 2 (a) Directive 95/46/EC.[2] The Directive itself derives the definition from Article 2 (a) Convention 108[3], according to which “personal data” means any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual (“data subject”).[4]
The definition can be divided into the four requirements of (1) ‘any information’ (2) ‘relating to’ (3) ‘an identified or identifiable’ (4) 'individual' requiring their cumulative fulfilment in order to satisfy the notion of personal data.
Any Information
With the expression of ‘any information’, the legislator underlines the willingness to keep the term ‘personal data’ as broad as possible.
In this regard, the German Constitutional Court already in 1983 stated that "Under the conditions of automatic data processing, there is no longer meaningless data."[5] This position was recently also supported by the Commission, stating that "any item of data relating to an individual, harmless though it may seem, may be sensitive",[6] thereby also following the wish of the Council to keep the definition as general as possible.[7]
In this regard, the European Court of Human Rights made clear that:
- “private life” must not be interpreted restrictively. In particular, respect for private life comprises the right to establish and develop relationships with other human beings [...] there is no reason of principle to justify excluding activities of a professional or business nature from the notion of “private life”[8]
Accordingly, personal data can relate directly to the data subject or any of their interaction with the environment. The term includes information regarding the individual’s private and family life as well as information regarding the working, economic or social behaviour of the individual. It includes information regardless of the position or capacity of the individual (as consumer, patient, employee or customer, etc).[9]
Information can be ‘objective’ such as a blood characteristic of a data subject, as well as ‘subjective’ in the form of opinions or assessments. The latter type of information constitutes a significant part of the processing of personal data in sectors such as banking, for the assessment of the reliability of borrowers (‘An individual is a reliable borrower’), insurance (‘An individual should not die in the near future’) or employment (‘An individual is a good worker and deserves promotion’).[10]
It is not necessary for the information to be true, proven or complete. In fact, the GDPR provides for the possibility that the information is incorrect and gives the data subject the right to access this information (Article 15 GDPR) and to rectify it (Article 16 GDPR).[11]
With regard to the format or medium of the information, the term ‘personal data’ includes data in alphabetical, numerical, graphic, photographic, acoustic or any other form of Information. This includes information on paper as well as information stored on a computer in binary form or on tape.
Examples are:
Relating to
Identified or Identifiable
Natural Person
Examples
- name, date of birth, nationality, gender, ethnicity, religion and language[16]
- place of birth, nationality, marital status, sex, record of entries into and exits from a a country, residence status, particulars of passports issued, previous statements as to domicile, reference numbers issued by an authority, reference numbers used by authorities[17]
- municipality of residence, information concerning the earned and unearned income and assets of that person[18]
- data, which relate both to the monies paid by certain bodies and the recipients[19]
- name of a person in conjunction with his telephone coordinates or information about his working conditions or hobbies[20]
- the times when working hours begin and end, as well as the corresponding breaks and intervals[21]
- dynamic IP address[22]
- written exams[23]
- fingerprints[24]
(2) Processing
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(3) Restriction of processing
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(4) Profiling
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(5) Pseudonymisation
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(6) Filing system
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(7) Controller
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(8) Processor
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(9) Recipient
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(10) Third party
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(11) Consent
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(12) Personal data breach
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(13) Genetic data
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(14) Biometric data
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(15) Data concerning health
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(16) Main establishment
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(17) Representative
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(18) Enterprise
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(19) Group of undertakings
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(20) Binding corporate rules
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(21) Supervisory authority
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(22) Supervisory authority concerned
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(23) Cross-border processing
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(24) Relevant and reasoned objection
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(25) Information society service
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(26) International organisation
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Other Definitions
Article 4 GDPR is not the only provision defining relevant terms for the GDPR. The Regulation contains other articles, that directly or indirectly delivering definitions, such as:
- Article 5(1)(a) GDPR: ‘lawfulness, fairness and transparency’,
- Article 5(1)(b) GDPR: ‘purpose limitation’,
- Article 5(1)(c) GDPR: ‘data minimisation’,
- Article 5(1)(d) GDPR: ‘accuracy’,
- Article 5(1)(e) GDPR: 'storage limitation’,
- Article 5(1)(f) GDPR: ‘integrity and confidentiality’,
- Article 5(2) GDPR: ‘accountability’,
- Article 8 GDPR: ‘child’,
- Article 9 GDPR: ‘special categories of personal data’,
- Article 51 GDPR: ‘supervisory authority’,
- Article 68 GDPR: ‘European Data Protection Board’.
For further information please see the commentary on the respective Articles.
Decisions
→ You can find all related decisions in Category:Article 4 GDPR
References
- ↑ European Commission: What is personal data?; its antonym is defined in Article 3(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/1807.
- ↑ COM(2012) 11 final - 2012/12 (COD), 27 January 2012, p. 9.
- ↑ COM (90) 314 final - SYN 287 and SYN 188, 30 September 1990, p. 19.
- ↑ Article 2 (a) European Council Convention No. 108
- ↑ Bundesverfassungsgericht, 15 December 1983, 1 BvR 209/83, 269/83, 362/83, 420/83, 440/83, 484/83, margin number 150 (available here https://www.bverfg.de/e/rs19831215_1bvr020983.html):
- The nature of the information cannot be the only factor to be taken into account. What is decisive is their usability and applicability. These depend, on the one hand, on the purpose for which the data is collected and, on the other hand, on the processing and linking possibilities inherent in information technology. This can give a date that is in itself meaningless a new significance; in this respect, there is no longer ‘meaningless’ data under the conditions of automatic data processing.
Dabei kann nicht allein auf die Art der Angaben abgestellt werden. Entscheidend sind ihre Nutzbarkeit und Verwendungsmöglichkeit. Diese hängen einerseits von dem Zweck, dem die Erhebung dient, und andererseits von den der Informationstechnologie eigenen Verarbeitungsmöglichkeiten und Verknüpfungsmöglichkeiten ab. Dadurch kann ein für sich gesehen belangloses Datum einen neuen Stellenwert bekommen; insoweit gibt es unter den Bedingungen der automatischen Datenverarbeitung kein „belangloses“ Datum mehr.
- The nature of the information cannot be the only factor to be taken into account. What is decisive is their usability and applicability. These depend, on the one hand, on the purpose for which the data is collected and, on the other hand, on the processing and linking possibilities inherent in information technology. This can give a date that is in itself meaningless a new significance; in this respect, there is no longer ‘meaningless’ data under the conditions of automatic data processing.
- ↑ COM(90) 314, 13 final, September 1990, p. 19 (available here).
- ↑ COM (92) 422 final, 28.10.1992, p. 10, cited in WP29, Opinion 4/2007 on the concept of personal data, 20 June 2007, p. 4 (available here).
- ↑ European Court of Human Rights. Amann v. Switzerland [GC], no. 27798/95
- ↑ WP29, Opinion 4/2007 on the concept of personal data, 20 June 2007, p. 6f
- ↑ WP29, Opinion 4/2007 on the concept of personal data, 20 June 2007, p. 6.
- ↑ WP29, Opinion 4/2007 on the concept of personal data, 20 June 2007, p. 6.
- ↑ WP29, Opinion 4/2007 on the concept of personal data, 20. June 2007 WP 136 p. 8.
- ↑ WP29, Opinion 4/2007 on the concept of personal data, 20. June 2007 WP 136 p. 8.
- ↑ WP29, Opinion 4/2007 on the concept of personal data, 20. June 2007 WP 136 p. 7.
- ↑ WP29, Opinion 4/2007 on the concept of personal data, 20. June 2007 WP 136 p. 8.
- ↑ Judgment of the Court, Joined Cases C‑141/12 and C‑372/12, 17. July 2014, ECLI:EU:C:2014:2081 CELEX:62012CJ0141, CELEX:62006CA0524
- ↑ Judgment of the Court, Case C-524/06, 16. December 2008, ECLI:EU:C:2008:724, CELEX:62006CJ0524
- ↑ Judgment of the Court, Case C-73/07, 16 December 2008, ECLI:EU:C:2008:727, CELEX:62007CJ0073
- ↑ Judgment of the Court, Joined Cases C-465/00, C-138/01 and C-139/01, 20. May 2003, ECLI:EU:C:2003:294 CELEX:62000CJ0465
- ↑ Judgment of the Court, Case C-101/01, 6. November 2003, ECLI:EU:C:2003:596, CELEX:62001CJ0101
- ↑ Judgment of the Court, Case C-342/12, 30 May 2013, ECLI:EU:C:2013:355, CELEX:62012CJ0342
- ↑ Judgment of the Court, Case C-582/14, 19 October 2014, ECLI:EU:C:2016:779, CELEX:62014CJ0582
- ↑ Judgment of the Court, Case C‑434/16, 20 December 2017, ECLI:EU:C:2017:994, CELEX:62016CJ0434
- ↑ Judgment of the Court, Case C‑291/12, 17. Oktober 2013, ECLI:EU:C:2013:670, CELEX:62012CJ0291