Purpose of this introduction
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The GDPR spans some 99 Articles that in turn are usually divided into several paragraphs which again can contain multiple points. In addition, there are 173 Recitals that help in the interpretation of the articles. Of the eleven chapters of the GDPR, the first four are directly relevant to any party who wants to process personal data. Without recitals, they span a total of 43 articles that fill 28 pages of legal text in the official PDF version[1]. It is therefore not surprising that many people who need to comply with the GDPR, but are not versed in the reading and interpretation of legal text, find the learning curve to be rather steep.

The present introduction attempts to ease this difficulty. It does so not only by giving an overview of the most relevant content, but attempts to present the GDPR as a single consistent system. It does not limit itself to stating what the requirements are, but proposes a way to also understand why each requirement is there and how it is a necessary part in the whole system. It is hoped that this approach does not only help to get a good overview, but beyond that provides a deeper level of understanding. This is hoped to support practitioners when they have to translate abstract requirements into concrete measures or have to decide at what level measures provide sufficient protection and safeguards.
 

 

References


1https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32016R0679&from=EN (last visited 7/5/2020)

 

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