‘In order to be able to demonstrate compliance with this Regulation, the controller should adopt internal policies and implement measures which meet in particular the principles of data protection by design and data protection by default.’

GDPR Recital 78

The GDPR has a rich history. The first initiatives to protect our personal data more effectively emerged as early as in the 1970s. The underlying principles of all laws relating to the protection of personal data have remained virtually unchanged since that time. Thorough knowledge of these principles is a must for anyone involved in privacy and data protection!

In the GDPR, the seven underlying principles are referred to as the ‘Article 5 principles’. Quite logically, since they are contained in the fifth article of the GDPR. Test your knowledge of what you already know about these seven principles in this short opening quiz. Good luck!

Learning objectives

The seven principles on which the GDPR is based are general in nature. They provide you with guidelines for taking all the necessary technical and organisational measures but do not tell you exactly what to do in every situation. That is why in this module we offer you the Metro Map which shows you step by step the measures you need to take. Subsequently, the next module explains these measures (referred to as ‘actions’) in even greater detail. In this module you will learn about:

  • The rich history of the GDPR
  • The precise meaning of each of the seven Article 5 principles
  • How to use the Metro Map for a step-by-step overview of the necessary measures

Good luck!