Before you read
This site is NOT legal advice, and using it creates no lawyer and client relationship. It is a set of findings, checked against published sources and dated, that may help software developers and other individuals. For a decision that matters, ask a qualified lawyer in the country concerned.
Glossary
Terms as the GDPR defines them, in plain words. Other laws may use the same word differently: each country’s page says so where it matters.
Personal data
Any information about a person who is identified or can be identified.
Data subject
The person the data is about.
Processing
Anything done with personal data: collecting, storing, using, sharing, deleting.
Controller
Whoever decides why and how personal data is used.
Processor
Whoever handles personal data on a controller’s behalf.
Consent
A freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous agreement, shown by a clear action.
Personal data breach
A security failure that leads to personal data being lost, altered, destroyed, disclosed or accessed.
Regulator
The public body that enforces the law. The GDPR calls it a supervisory authority.
Adequacy decision
The European Commission’s finding that a place outside the EU protects personal data adequately.