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Chapter II · Principles

Article 6 — Lawfulness of processing

Regulation (EU) 2016/679 · Article 6

Original text

1. Processing shall be lawful only if and to the extent that at least one of the following applies:

(a) the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes;

(b) processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract;

(c) processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject;

(d) processing is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person;

(e) processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller;

(f) processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject which require protection of personal data, in particular where the data subject is a child.

Point (f) of the first subparagraph shall not apply to processing carried out by public authorities in the performance of their tasks.

Source: EUR-Lex · Public domain

Discussion (5)

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  • Sara K.DPO3 days ago
    When relying on legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)), document the three-part test: purpose (is the interest legitimate?), necessity (do you really need to process this data?), and balancing (do the data subject's rights override your interest?). Keep this LIA on file — supervisory authorities will ask for it.
    • Jamie D.Company DPO2 days ago
      Question: for B2B marketing, can you still use legitimate interests after the e-Privacy directive? My understanding is electronic marketing always needs PECR/ePrivacy consent regardless of Art 6.
      • Marco P.DPO1 day ago
        Correct. ePrivacy is *lex specialis* — it overrides GDPR for marketing emails to individuals. B2B (corporate subscribers in the UK; varies by EU member state) has a soft-opt-in but you still need Art 6 basis for the underlying processing (usually legitimate interest).
  • Eva R.AI Specialist1 week ago
    Heads up: under the EU AI Act, high-risk AI training that uses personal data must *also* satisfy GDPR Art 6 — they stack, not substitute. Plan your lawful basis before the model card is signed off.
  • Liam O.DPO2 weeks ago
    For contract basis (b): be careful with "necessary." If the contract could reasonably be performed without that specific data point, you can't use this basis for it. Common over-reach with profiling/analytics tacked onto a service.