L 119/32
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
4.5.2016
HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
CHAPTER I
General provisions
Article 1
Subject-matter and objectives
1.
This Regulation lays down rules relating to the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of
personal data and rules relating to the free movement of personal data.
2.
This Regulation protects fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons and in particular their right to the
protection of personal data.
3.
The free movement of personal data within the Union shall be neither restricted nor prohibited for reasons
connected with the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data.
Article 2
Material scope
1.
This Regulation applies to the processing of personal data wholly or partly by automated means and to the
processing other than by automated means of personal data which form part of a filing system or are intended to form
part of a filing system.
2.
This Regulation does not apply to the processing of personal data:
(a) in the course of an activity which falls outside the scope of Union law;
(b) by the Member States when carrying out activities which fall within the scope of Chapter 2 of Title V of the TEU;
(c) by a natural person in the course of a purely personal or household activity;
(d) by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal
offences or the execution of criminal penalties, including the safeguarding against and the prevention of threats to
public security.
3.
For the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, Regulation (EC)
No 45/2001 applies. Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and other Union legal acts applicable to such processing of personal
data shall be adapted to the principles and rules of this Regulation in accordance with Article 98.
4.
This Regulation shall be without prejudice to the application of Directive 2000/31/EC, in particular of the liability
rules of intermediary service providers in Articles 12 to 15 of that Directive.
Article 3
Territorial scope
1.
This Regulation applies to the processing of personal data in the context of the activities of an establishment of a
controller or a processor in the Union, regardless of whether the processing takes place in the Union or not.