What Is Special Category Data?
Special Category Data is personal data the GDPR affords extra protection because of its sensitivity — data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade-union membership, health, sex life or sexual orientation, and genetic and biometric data used to identify a person.
Special Category Data — personal data the GDPR affords extra protection because of its sensitivity — data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade-union membership, health, sex life or sexual orientation, and genetic and biometric data used to identify a person.
Processing special category data is prohibited under GDPR Article 9 unless a specific condition applies (such as explicit consent or a substantial public-interest basis). This matters for AI because models can infer sensitive attributes from seemingly innocuous inputs — a risk that overlaps with the EU AI Act's limits on biometric categorisation. UK GDPR uses the same concept.
Source: GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679), Article 9
Plain-language explanation
Processing special category data is prohibited under GDPR Article 9 unless a specific condition applies (such as explicit consent or a substantial public-interest basis). This matters for AI because models can infer sensitive attributes from seemingly innocuous inputs — a risk that overlaps with the EU AI Act's limits on biometric categorisation. UK GDPR uses the same concept.
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