GDPR Data Handling

Practical implementation guide for GDPR-compliant data processing, consent management, and privacy controls.

When to Use This Skill

• Building systems that process EU personal data
• Implementing consent management
• Handling data subject requests (DSRs)
• Conducting GDPR compliance reviews
• Designing privacy-first architectures
• Creating data processing agreements

Core Concepts

1. Personal Data Categories

Category	Examples	Protection Level
Basic	Name, email, phone	Standard
Sensitive (Art. 9)	Health, religion, ethnicity	Explicit consent
Criminal (Art. 10)	Convictions, offenses	Official authority
Children's	Under 16 data	Parental consent

2. Legal Bases for Processing

Article 6 - Lawful Bases:
├── Consent: Freely given, specific, informed
├── Contract: Necessary for contract performance
├── Legal Obligation: Required by law
├── Vital Interests: Protecting someone's life
├── Public Interest: Official functions
└── Legitimate Interest: Balanced against rights

3. Data Subject Rights

Right to Access (Art. 15)      ─┐
Right to Rectification (Art. 16) │
Right to Erasure (Art. 17)       │ Must respond
Right to Restrict (Art. 18)      │ within 1 month
Right to Portability (Art. 20)   │
Right to Object (Art. 21)       ─┘

Detailed worked examples and patterns

Detailed sections (starting with ## Implementation Patterns) live in references/details.md. Read that file when the navigation summary above is insufficient.

Best Practices

Do's

• Minimize data collection - Only collect what's needed
• Document everything - Processing activities, legal bases
• Encrypt PII - At rest and in transit
• Implement access controls - Need-to-know basis
• Regular audits - Verify compliance continuously

Don'ts

• Don't pre-check consent boxes - Must be opt-in
• Don't bundle consent - Separate purposes separately
• Don't retain indefinitely - Define and enforce retention
• Don't ignore DSARs - 30-day response required
• Don't transfer without safeguards - SCCs or adequacy decisions