Italy has recently implemented the European Union’s legislation on privacy – General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR) on 25th of May 2018. The GDPR rules prescribe new regulations which refer to the safeguard of the privacy data of the Italian and European citizens. Through this legislation, businesses performing economic activities in the online environment are obliged to impose new measures on the collection of data from third parties, such as clients, internet users, employees and others.
The GDPR law replaces the Italian Legislative Decree 196/03 – Data Protection Law and the Italian Data Protection Agency (DPA) provided since last year useful guidelines that can help local companies to transition to the new system. Our team of lawyers in Italy can offer legal assistance on the new data protection regulations that are prescribed by the new rule of law.
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What does GDPR law regulate in Italy?
The main purpose of the new legislation is to offer a clear guarantee to the Italian and European citizens that their personal data is collected in a transparent manner. Following the provisions of the GDPR legislation, companies collecting data from users and clients must obtain the consent of the respective parties. The legislation also prescribes the following:
- • personal data can be collected only from persons who have an age above 16 years old;
- • if the user has an age below 16 years old, his or her information may only be collected if the parents have provided their consent;
- • the user has to be informed on the manner in which his/her data is collected by a certain company;
- • the company must also mention if collecting certain data from a user is mandatory;
- • the user must also be informed on the period in which his/her personal data will be stored.
Types of data under the GDPR law
The GDPR legislation defines certain categories of data. Under its provisions, personal data can refer to any information related to the identity of a person. However, it also defines sensitive data, in which case special consent must be obtained and our team of Italian lawyers can offer more information.
As a general rule, sensitive data refer to the ethnic origin of a person, his/her political orientation, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, the state of health and others. This legislation prescribes special categories of personal data, such as genetic or biometric information and persons who are interested in more details concerning these categories of data are invited to contact our law firm in Italy for legal advice.