Chapter 1 · General Provisions

Article 1Subject matter and objectives

All 99 Articles Chapter 1: General Provisions

Sets out what the GDPR is for: protecting people's fundamental right to the protection of their personal data, while allowing personal data to flow freely within the EU.

Key points

  • Protects natural persons regarding the processing of their personal data.
  • Ensures the free movement of personal data is neither restricted nor prohibited within the EU for data-protection reasons.

Official text & source

Article 1 of the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679). Read the full, authoritative text on EUR-Lex.

Official text on EUR-Lex

Official text

Verbatim text of Article 1 of the General Data Protection Regulation — Regulation (EU) 2016/679.

This Regulation lays down rules relating to the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and rules relating to the free movement of personal data.

This Regulation protects fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons and in particular their right to the protection of personal data.

The free movement of personal data within the Union shall be neither restricted nor prohibited for reasons connected with the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data.

Source: Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, p. 1). Official text reproduced from EUR-Lex — © European Union. Only European Union legislation published in the Official Journal is deemed authentic.

Related articles

These summaries are a plain-English orientation only and are not a substitute for the official text of the Regulation or for legal advice.

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