🌍 The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a sweeping privacy law enacted by the European Union in 2018 to give individuals more control over their personal data and to unify data protection rules across EU member states.

🔐 Core Principles of GDPR

GDPR is built on several foundational principles:

• Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency: Data must be processed legally and openly
• Purpose limitation: Data should only be collected for specific, legitimate reasons
• Data minimization: Only the necessary data should be collected
• Accuracy: Personal data must be kept up to date
• Storage limitation: Data shouldn’t be kept longer than needed
• Integrity and confidentiality: Data must be protected from unauthorized access
• Accountability: Organizations must demonstrate compliance

👤 Rights for Individuals

GDPR empowers people with rights over their data:

• Right to access: See what data is held about you
• Right to rectification: Fix inaccurate data
• Right to erasure (“right to be forgotten”)
• Right to restrict processing
• Right to data portability
• Right to object
• Rights related to automated decision-making and profiling

🏢 Who Must Comply?

Any organization—inside or outside the EU—that:

• Offers goods or services to EU residents
• Monitors the behavior of individuals in the EU

This includes websites, apps, and cloud services that collect personal data from EU users.

⚠️ Consequences of Non-Compliance

• Fines up to €20 million or 4% of global annual revenue, whichever is higher
• Reputational damage
• Legal action from data subjects

GDPR is more than a regulation—it’s a global benchmark for data privacy.