Special Category Data
What is Special Category Data?
Personal data types that require additional protections under GDPR, including racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, and health data.
Terms that appear alongside special category data
Each of these is named in at least one of the same controls as special category data. The number is how many controls name both.
- gdpr 9 shared controls
- consent 9 shared controls
- data protection 8 shared controls
- lawful basis 5 shared controls
- data subject 5 shared controls
- data protection officer 4 shared controls
- impact assessment 3 shared controls
- compliance 3 shared controls
Frameworks that govern special category data
What the standards actually require on special category data
Requirements naming special category data across 6 standards, quoted from the control text.
Facial recognition carries higher risks than ordinary video, especially when used to infer behaviour, emotion or intention, and raises accuracy concerns for ethnic minority groups;
uk-ico-employment-practices-and-data-protection-monitoring-workers-2023::3.5(c) · 3.5(c) Facial recognition in worker monitoring: special category data, a lawful basis and condition, and a DPIA →Special categories of employee data may be processed for the employment contract where necessary to exercise rights or meet legal obligations under employment, social security and social protection law and there is no reason to think the employee's legitimate...
greece-law-46242019-hellenic-data-protection-authority-hdpa-implementation-act::Art.27.3 · Article 27(3): employee special-category data only for employment, social security and social protection duties →Where processing of personal or special category data is necessary for a task carried out in the public interest (GDPR arts 6(1)(e) and 9(2)(g)), the controller or third party must put in place: (a) appropriate technical and organisational measures to respect...
romania-law-no-1902018-on-data-protection-measures-gdpr-implementation::6 · Public-interest processing: safeguards for personal and special category data →Article 17: processing revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinion, religious or philosophical belief or trade-union membership, and processing of genetic data, biometric data for unique identification, health data or data on sex life or sexual orient...
serbia-law-on-personal-data-protection-2018::17 · Process special-category data only under an Article 17 exception →Apply heightened controls to special category data (health, biometrics, race, religion, political views) including explicit consent or statutory exception.
AM-DPA-03 · Special Category Data Restrictions →Special category data may not be processed except where processing is mandatory by law, the subject has given written consent (including through the e-government system, added in 2024), the data is open under Article 5.3, it is needed to protect the life and h...
azerbaijan-law-on-personal-data-2010::Art 9.7-9.8 · Articles 9.7 and 9.8: special category data only on listed grounds, then block and destroy →Questions people ask about special category data
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