GDPR and journalism

GDPR and journalism – Pitane BV

GDPR and our journalistic rights

The GDPR obliges Member States to establish exceptions or derogations from the GDPR for the processing of personal data for journalistic purposes. The Dutch legislator has done so in Article 43 of the GDPR Implementation Act. The processing of personal data for journalistic purposes only includes the following chapters and articles of the GDPR not applicable:

  • Article 7, third paragraph (withdrawal of consent)
  • Article 10 (processing personal data regarding criminal convictions/facts)
  • Chapter III (rights of data subjects)
  • Article 30 (register of processing activities)
  • Article 33 to 43 (including obligation to report data breach, data protection assessment (PIA))
  • Chapter V (transfers to other countries)
  • Chapter VI (supervisory authority)
  • Chapter VII (cooperation between supervisors)

These exceptions do not only apply to processing for journalistic purposes, but also to academic, artistic or literary forms of expression. The rights that individuals have under the GDPR are therefore largely inapplicable. If personal data is mentioned in a journalistic article, such as a first and last name, then that person has:

  • no right to be forgotten: so you cannot be asked to delete the name
  • no right of withdrawal: in case of permission for publication, that permission cannot be withdrawn
  • no right to rectification
  • no right of access to the processing of personal data by the medium concerned
  • no right to object to the processing 
  • no right to data portability to receive from the medium the personal data they have

The provisions on the supervisory authority are also excluded. This means that the Dutch Data Protection Authority is not authorized to supervise, nor can it impose fines for any violations.

Special personal data

The processing of special personal data may only be processed if this is necessary for the journalistic purpose. A necessity test therefore applies to this data. Special data is data about a person's race, religion, health, political preference, sexual life, trade union membership and criminal history. 

The other provisions of the GDPR do apply to journalism. These include the provisions relating to:

  • security (Article 32)
  • processors (Article 28)
  • archiving (storage limitation article 5 paragraph 1 sub e)
  • data protection by default settings (Article 25)

Cooperation with tax and criminal investigations

In some cases, Pitane BV can be held on the basis of a legal obligation to share your data in connection with government tax or criminal investigations. In such a case, we are forced to share your data, but we will oppose this within the possibilities that the law offers us.

Contact information

Pitane BV
Marinus van Meelweg 12
5657 AND Eindhoven
The Netherlands
TEL: + 31852015170
E press@pitane.blue