General Data Protection Regulation

1. This Regulation applies to the processing of personal data wholly or partly by automated means and to the processing other than by automated means of personal data which form part of a filing system or are intended to form part of a filing system.

2. This Regulation does not apply to the processing of personal data:

(a) in the course of an activity which falls outside the scope of Union law;


(b) by the Member States when carrying out activities which fall within the scope of Chapter 2 of Title V of the TEU;


(c) by a natural person in the course of a purely personal or household activity;


(d) by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, including the safeguarding against and the prevention of threats to public security.

3. For the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 applies. Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and other Union legal acts applicable to such processing of personal data shall be adapted to the principles and rules of this Regulation in accordance with Article 98.

4. This Regulation shall be without prejudice to the application of Directive 2000/31/EC, in particular of the liability rules of intermediary service providers in Articles 12 to 15 of that Directive.

Relevant Recitals 

• Recital 13: Harmonisation of Protection and Advantages for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
• Recital 14: Not Applicable to Legal Persons
• Recital 15: Technologically Neutral Protection
• Recital 16: Not Applicable to National Security and Common Foreign and Security Policy Activities
• Recital 17: Adaptation of Regulation (EC) No 45/2001
• Recital 18: Household Exception
• Recital 19: Not Applicable to Criminal Prosecution Activities
• Recital 20: Respect to the Independence of the Judiciary
• Recital 21: Application without Prejudice to the Application of Directive 2000/31/EC
• Recital 27: Not Applicable to Deceased Persons