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What is a privacy notice?

A privacy notice is a public document from an organization that explains how that organization processes personal data and how it applies data protection principles. Articles 12, 13, and 14 of the GDPR provide detailed instructions on how to create a privacy notice, placing an emphasis on making them easy to understand and accessible. If you are collecting data directly from someone, you have to provide them with your privacy notice at the moment you do so.

Note that the terms “privacy notice” and “privacy policy” do not actually appear in the text of the GDPR and are essentially interchangeable. The guidelines explained in this article apply to any public documents in which your organization describes its data processing activities to customers and the public.

According to the GDPR, organizations must provide people with a privacy notice that is:

• In a concise, transparent, intelligible, and easily accessible form
• Written in clear and plain language, particularly for any information addressed specifically to a child
• Delivered in a timely manner
• Provided free of charge

The GDPR also stipulates what information an organization must share in a privacy notice. There is a slight variation in requirements depending on whether an organization collects its data directly from an individual or receives it as a third party.

If an organization is collecting information from an individual directly, it must include the following information in its privacy notice:

• The identity and contact details of the organization, its representative, and its Data Protection Officer
• The purpose for the organization to process an individual’s personal data and its legal basis
• The legitimate interests of the organization (or third party, where applicable)
• Any recipient or categories of recipients of an individual’s data
• The details regarding any transfer of personal data to a third country and the safeguards taken
• The retention period or criteria used to determine the retention period of the data
• The existence of each data subject’s rights
• The right to withdraw consent at any time (where relevant)
• The right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority
• Whether the provision of personal data is part of a statutory or contractual requirement or obligation and the possible consequences of failing to provide the personal data
• The existence of an automated decision-making system, including profiling, and information about how this system has been set up, the significance, and the consequences

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