Source: OJ L 119, 4.5.2016, pp. 1–88 · Consolidated textCurrent language: EN
- General data protection
Basic legislative acts
- GDPR regulation
Article 85 Processing and freedom of expression and information
Summary What does Article 85 of the GDPR regulation say?
This article addresses the tension between two fundamental rights — the protection of personal data and the freedom of expression and information — and places the responsibility on Member States to balance them through national law.
It carves out broad space for journalistic, academic, artistic, and literary activities to operate outside many of the GDPR's standard requirements where necessary, making it a significant derogation article within the regulation.
Important points:
- Member States are required to pass national laws that reconcile data protection rights with freedom of expression and information, including for journalistic and academic or artistic purposes.
- Member States may exempt or derogate from large portions of the GDPR — covering principles, data subject rights, controller obligations, international transfers, supervisory authorities, and cooperation — where necessary for those expressive purposes.
- Member States must notify the Commission of the national provisions adopted under this article, and of any subsequent amendments without delay.
Springlex's summary of the article is a reading aid, not a substitute for the legal text.
Member States shall by law reconcile the right to the protection of personal data pursuant to this Regulation with the right to freedom of expression and information, including processing for journalistic purposes and the purposes of academic, artistic or literary expression.
For processing carried out for journalistic purposes or the purpose of academic artistic or literary expression, Member States shall provide for exemptions or derogations from Chapter II (principles), Chapter III (rights of the data subject), Chapter IV (controller and processor), Chapter V (transfer of personal data to third countries or international organisations), Chapter VI (independent supervisory authorities), Chapter VII (cooperation and consistency) and Chapter IX (specific data processing situations) if they are necessary to reconcile the right to the protection of personal data with the freedom of expression and information.
Each Member State shall notify to the Commission the provisions of its law which it has adopted pursuant to paragraph 2 and, without delay, any subsequent amendment law or amendment affecting them.
Relevant recitals
Recital 153 Balancing expression and data protection
Member States law should reconcile the rules governing freedom of expression and information, including journalistic, academic, artistic and or literary expression with the right to the protection of personal data pursuant to this Regulation. The processing of personal data solely for journalistic purposes, or for the purposes of academic, artistic or literary expression should be subject to derogations or exemptions from certain provisions of this Regulation if necessary to reconcile the right to the protection of personal data with the right to freedom of expression and information, as enshrined in Article 11 of the Charter. This should apply in particular to the processing of personal data in the audiovisual field and in news archives and press libraries. Therefore, Member States should adopt legislative measures which lay down the exemptions and derogations necessary for the purpose of balancing those fundamental rights. Member States should adopt such exemptions and derogations on general principles, the rights of the data subject, the controller and the processor, the transfer of personal data to third countries or international organisations, the independent supervisory authorities, cooperation and consistency, and specific data-processing situations. Where such exemptions or derogations differ from one Member State to another, the law of the Member State to which the controller is subject should apply. In order to take account of the importance of the right to freedom of expression in every democratic society, it is necessary to interpret notions relating to that freedom, such as journalism, broadly.
Springlex and this text is meant purely as a documentation tool and has no legal effect. No liability is assumed for its content. The authentic version of this act is the one published in the Official Journal of the European Union.
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processing
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controller
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processor
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international organisation
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supervisory authority
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personal data