Personal Privacy Policies

This chapter provides a general introduction to the principle of transparency, a foundational element of data protection together with lawfulness and fairness, in the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Relevant GDPR articles are analyzed to provide the reader with an understanding of key elements of transparency and aspects which should be considered in communication with data subjects. The GDPR requires data controllers to provide individuals with clear and comprehensive privacy information that is also concise, intelligible, and easily accessible. However, doing so in practice proves to be an onerous task. To this end, the authors provide a comprehensive set of data protection icons developed in the context of the Maastricht University Data Protection as a Social Responsibility research project which can be used to further understanding of privacy policies.