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Ethics & Safety

General Data Protection Regulation(GDPR)

Definition

The European Union's data-protection law, effective 2018, governing how organizations collect, process, and store EU residents' personal data.

In-Depth Explanation

GDPR took effect on 25 May 2018 and applies to any organization worldwide that handles the data of EU residents. It rests on principles such as lawfulness, purpose limitation, data minimization, and accountability, and grants individuals rights to access, erase, and port their data. Controllers must report breaches within 72 hours, and vendors typically provide a Data Processing Agreement (DPA). Fines reach up to 20 million euros or 4% of global annual revenue, whichever is higher.

Real-World Example

An AI tool serving EU users publishes a DPA and lets users request deletion of their data to comply with GDPR.

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Related Terms

EU AI Act

The European Union's regulation that classifies AI systems by risk level and imposes obligations scaling with the potential for harm.

Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act(HIPAA)

A US law that sets national standards for protecting sensitive patient health information held by healthcare providers and their vendors.

PII Redaction

The automated detection and removal or masking of personally identifiable information before data is stored, logged, or sent to an AI model.

SOC 2

A voluntary security-audit framework from the AICPA that reports on how a service organization manages customer data across five trust criteria.