Do You Really Need Consent to Process Personal Data?

Are you not starting to be a little bit tired of signing forms giving consent to process personal data. Is consent really always necessary? To answer this question we have to turn to articles 6 and 9 of the EU Regulation 2016/679 on General Data Protection, the first for basic data and the second for the processing of sensitive data, which as we already know, are those that reveal data on ideology, religion, sex life, health, race...). In these precepts you can see what are the so-called "legal grounds" or legal causes for the processing of texts, and you can see that consent is ONLY ONE OF THE LEGAL BASES FOR THE PROCESSING OF PERSONAL DATA, but not the only one. In addition to consent, we also find other legal basis for lawfully processing personal data, such as the need for processing for the performance of a contract, or when there is a legitimate interest for it, or if it is necessary to comply with a legal obligation, among others.

So, is consent always necessary for the processing of personal data? The answer is no. In fact, there are cases where consent is not even the best legal ground to justify the processing of personal data. But I will tell you about this in another post.

What I do recommend is that, regardless of whether your company or your business bases the processing of personal data of your customers, your suppliers or whoever, on consent or any other legal matter, always consult with an expert lawyer in Data Protection issues, because a mistake on this point can cost you very, very expensive, and it is not worth risking it.

Remember that if you need it, we can advise you to make this process as fast and effective as possible. Just contact us, (diterno@proemabogados.com), and we will get to work.

David Tierno García

Attorney at Law