The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a regulation implemented by the European Union (EU) in 2018 to strengthen data protection and privacy rights for individuals within the EU. It applies to all organizations that process personal data of EU citizens, regardless of where the organization is located.

GDPR aims to give individuals more control over their personal data and ensure that organizations handle and protect that data responsibly. Some key principles of GDPR include:

1. Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency: Organizations must process personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner. They should inform individuals about how their data is being collected, used, and stored.
2. Purpose limitation: Personal data should only be collected for specific, explicit, and legitimate purposes. Organizations cannot use the data for purposes that are incompatible with the original purpose.
3. Data minimization: Organizations should only collect and process the minimum amount of personal data necessary to achieve the intended purpose.
4. Accuracy: Organizations are responsible for ensuring that the personal data they hold is accurate and up to date. They should take reasonable steps to rectify or erase inaccurate data.
5. Storage limitation: Personal data should be kept in a form that allows identification of individuals for no longer than necessary.
6. Integrity and confidentiality: Organizations must implement appropriate security measures to protect personal data against unauthorized access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

Failure to comply with GDPR can result in significant fines and penalties. For example, organizations can be fined up to €20 million or 4% of their annual global turnover, whichever is higher.

References:

• EU GDPR Official Website: https://gdpr.eu/
• EU GDPR Portal: https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection_en