Data Protection & GDPR Compliance
Key Concepts & Principles
GDPR Key Concepts
At Devoteam Portugal, we are committed to protecting the privacy and security of personal data. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a regulation implemented by the European Union to safeguard individuals' rights and ensure that personal data is handled responsibly, transparently, and securely.
Understanding the key concepts of data protection is crucial for ensuring compliance with GDPR and fostering a culture of privacy within our organisation. This section aims to provide a clear overview of the fundamental principles and responsibilities that all employees must adhere to in order to protect personal data and ensure we meet the legal requirements.
Here are some essential concepts:
Personal Data
Any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘Data Subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.
Data Processing
Means any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction.
Restriction of Data Processing
Means the marking of stored personal data with the aim of limiting their processing in the future.
Profiling
Means any form of automated processing of personal data consisting of the use of personal data to evaluate certain personal aspects relating to a natural person, in particular to analyse or predict aspects concerning that natural person's performance at work, economic situation, health, personal preferences, interests, reliability, behaviour, location or movements.
Pseudonymisation
Means the processing of personal data in such a manner that the personal data can no longer be attributed to a specific data subject without the use of additional information, provided that such additional information is kept separately and is subject to technical and organisational measures to ensure that the personal data are not attributed to an identified or identifiable natural person.
Filing System
Means any structured set of personal data which are accessible according to specific criteria, whether centralised, decentralised or dispersed on a functional or geographical basis.
Data Controller
Means the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law. In other words, the entity that determines the purposes and means of processing personal data.
Data Processor
Means the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller
Consent
Means any freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous indication of the data subject's wishes by which he or she, by a statement or by a clear affirmative action, signifies agreement to the processing of personal data relating to him or her.
Personal Data Breach
Means a breach of security leading to the accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure of, or access to, personal data transmitted, stored or otherwise processed.
Genetic Data
Means personal data relating to the inherited or acquired genetic characteristics of a natural person which give unique information about the physiology or the health of that natural person and which result, in particular, from an analysis of a biological sample from the natural person in question.
Biometric Data
Means personal data resulting from specific technical processing relating to the physical, physiological or behavioural characteristics of a natural person, which allow or confirm the unique identification of that natural person, such as facial images or dactyloscopic data.
Data Concerning Health
Means personal data related to the physical or mental health of a natural person, including the provision of health care services, which reveal information about his or her health status.
Binding Corporate Rules
Means personal data protection policies which are adhered to by a controller or processor established on the territory of a Member State for transfers or a set of transfers of personal data to a controller or processor in one or more third countries within a group of undertakings, or group of enterprises engaged in a joint economic activity.
Supervisory Authority
Means means an independent public authority which is established by a Member State pursuant to Article 51. In Portugal the Supervisory Authority is Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados (CNPD).
GDPR Principles
GDPR is built upon key principles that guide our data processing activities:
Lawfulness, Fairness, and Transparency
Data must be processed lawfully, fairly, and in a transparent manner to the data subject.
Purpose Limitation
Data should only be collected for specified, legitimate purposes and not processed further in a manner incompatible with those purposes.
Data Minimisation
Only the data necessary for the specified purposes should be collected and processed.
Accuracy
Personal data must be accurate and kept up to date. Inaccurate data should be rectified without delay.
Storage Limitation
Personal data should be retained only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected.
Integrity and Confidentiality
Data must be processed securely to protect against unauthorised access and loss.
Accountability
Organisations must be able to demonstrate compliance with all GDPR principles.
Last updated: 11/12/2024Author: Rute Reizinho, Compliance Director / DPO at Devoteam Portugal