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Article 14: Information to be provided where personal data have not been obtained from the data subjectAI-relevant

Praxikon tracks Article 14 (Information to be provided where personal data have not been obtained from the data subject) under the GDPR, alongside the EU AI Act, citing the source for every statement.

Chapter IIIIn force since 25-05-2018

What does Article 14 govern?

Article 14 sets out the duty to inform where you obtain personal data not from the person directly but, for example, from another organisation, from public sources or through a purchased list. Even then the person must be told who you are, for what purposes and on which legal basis you use the data, which categories of data are involved and who receives them (paragraph 1), plus the retention period, the rights, the source of the data and the existence of automated decision-making (paragraph 2). Because there is no contact moment at collection, paragraph 3 sets its own timeline: within a reasonable period and at the latest within one month, or earlier if you contact the person or disclose the data. Paragraph 5 contains exceptions, for example where the person already has the information, where informing is impossible or would involve a disproportionate effort, or where a statutory obligation of professional secrecy applies. The article exists because people should also know what happens to their data when they did not hand them over themselves (recitals 60 and 61), while recital 62 recognises that informing is not reasonable in every case.

Key term: Indirect collection: data you obtain not from the person directly but from another organisation or from public sources; even then you must inform that person

Directly affects:controllerdata subjectdata protection officer

Praxikon’s reading of the text and the recitals; the official text below prevails.

AI Act intersection

Information obligation at indirect collection overlaps with transparency requirements (Art. 13 and 50 AI Act), particularly for AI training on public data.

AI Act Art. 13 →AI Act Art. 50 →

Official text

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Where personal data have not been obtained from the data subject, the controller shall provide the data subject with the following information: (a) the identity and the contact details of the controller and, where applicable, of the controller's representative; (b) the contact details of the data protection officer, where applicable; (c) the purposes of the processing for which the personal data are intended as well as the legal basis for the processing; (d) the categories of personal data concerned; (e) the recipients or categories of recipients of the personal data, if any; (f) where applicable, that the controller intends to transfer personal data to a recipient in a third country or international organisation and the existence or absence of an adequacy decision by the Commission, or in the case of transfers referred to in Article 46 or 47, or the second subparagraph of Article 49(1), reference to the appropriate or suitable safeguards and the means to obtain a copy of them or where they have been made available.
In addition to the information referred to in paragraph 1, the controller shall provide the data subject with the following information necessary to ensure fair and transparent processing in respect of the data subject: (a) the period for which the personal data will be stored, or if that is not possible, the criteria used to determine that period; (b) where the processing is based on point (f) of Article 6(1), the legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party; (c) the existence of the right to request from the controller access to and rectification or erasure of personal data or restriction of processing concerning the data subject and to object to processing as well as the right to data portability; (d) where processing is based on point (a) of Article 6(1) or point (a) of Article 9(2), the existence of the right to withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal; (e) the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority; (f) from which source the personal data originate, and if applicable, whether it came from publicly accessible sources; (g) the existence of automated decision-making, including profiling, referred to in Article 22(1) and (4) and, at least in those cases, meaningful information about the logic involved, as well as the significance and the envisaged consequences of such processing for the data subject.
The controller shall provide the information referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2: (a) within a reasonable period after obtaining the personal data, but at the latest within one month, having regard to the specific circumstances in which the personal data are processed; (b) if the personal data are to be used for communication with the data subject, at the latest at the time of the first communication to that data subject; or (c) if a disclosure to another recipient is envisaged, at the latest when the personal data are first disclosed.
Where the controller intends to further process the personal data for a purpose other than that for which the personal data were obtained, the controller shall provide the data subject prior to that further processing with information on that other purpose and with any relevant further information as referred to in paragraph 2.
Paragraphs 1 to 4 shall not apply where and insofar as: (a) the data subject already has the information; (b) the provision of such information proves impossible or would involve a disproportionate effort, in particular for processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes, subject to the conditions and safeguards referred to in Article 89(1) or in so far as the obligation referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article is likely to render impossible or seriously impair the achievement of the objectives of that processing. In such cases the controller shall take appropriate measures to protect the data subject's rights and freedoms and legitimate interests, including making the information publicly available; (c) obtaining or disclosure is expressly laid down by Union or Member State law to which the controller is subject and which provides appropriate measures to protect the data subject's legitimate interests; or (d) where the personal data must remain confidential subject to an obligation of professional secrecy regulated by Union or Member State law, including a statutory obligation of secrecy.

Source: EUR-Lex, Regulation (EU) 2016/679. Official text, reproduced without modification.

What does this mean for you?

Controller

Where you obtain data through someone else, from a public source or from a supplier, you inform the person yourself within one month, or earlier if you contact that person or disclose the data to another recipient (paragraph 3). You also state the categories of data and the source, and whether it was publicly accessible (paragraph 1(d) and paragraph 2(f)). If you rely on the exception that informing is impossible or would involve a disproportionate effort, for example for processing for archiving in the public interest, scientific or historical research or statistical purposes, you record why and take appropriate measures to protect the data subjects, such as making the information publicly available (paragraph 5(b)).

Data Protection Officer

Your contact details are part of the information the data subject receives (paragraph 1(b)), even where that person did not hand over the data themselves.

Data Subject

Even where an organisation did not obtain your data from you, you are told who processes them, for what purpose, which data are involved and where they come from (paragraphs 1 and 2). This happens at the latest within one month, or earlier at the first contact or when the data are disclosed to someone else (paragraph 3). In a limited number of cases this is not required, for example where you already have the information or where a statutory obligation of professional secrecy applies (paragraph 5).

Compliance checklist

Related recitals

(60)

The principles of fair and transparent processing require that the data subject be informed of the existence of the processing operation and its purposes. The controller should provide the data subjec...

(61)

The information in relation to the processing of personal data relating to the data subject should be given to him or her at the time of collection from the data subject, or, where the personal data a...

(62)

However, it is not necessary to impose the obligation to provide information where the data subject already possesses the information, where the recording or disclosure of the personal data is express...

Cross-references

Art. 6: Lawfulness of processingArt. 9: Processing of special categories of personal dataArt. 22: Automated individual decision-making, including profilingArt. 46: Transfers subject to appropriate safeguardsArt. 49: Derogations for specific situationsArt. 89: Safeguards and derogations relating to processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes

More case law, guidelines and fines

In addition to the overview at the bottom of this page: rulings, guidelines and fines that interpret or apply this article, newest first. Each item was checked against the official source.

Case law (2)

  • 28 November 2024 · C-169/23 · CJEU
    Másdi

    The exemption from the duty to inform in Article 14(5)(c) covers all data not collected from the data subject, including data the controller generated itself. The supervisory authority may check whether the law provides appropriate safeguards.

  • 1 October 2015 · C-201/14 · CJEUDirective 95/46
    Bara

    A public body may not pass data to another public body for further processing without first informing the data subjects.

Guidelines (1)

  • 13 October 2026 · Statement 1/2026 · EDPB
    Statement 1/2026 on smart glasses

    Preliminary reflections: a narrow exemption for purely personal use, the producer and the provider of a linked service (including AI) can be controllers, and bystanders must notice at that moment that recording is taking place.

Fines (4)

  • 22 October 2024 · Data Protection Commission (Ireland)€310,000,000
    LinkedIn: behavioural analysis and targeted advertising

    LinkedIn used members' data for behavioural analysis and targeted advertising without a valid legal basis: consent was not valid, and neither legitimate interest nor contract applied. Members were also not properly informed about the legal bases relied on.

    Decision of 22 October 2024, announced on 24 October 2024. LinkedIn appealed to the Irish High Court.

  • 16 May 2024 · Dutch Data Protection Authority€30,500,000
    Clearview AI: illegal database of face prints

    Clearview scraped billions of photos from the internet and turned faces into biometric codes, without a legal basis and in breach of the ban on processing biometric data. It did not inform people, ignored access requests and had no representative in the EU.

    Decision of 16 May 2024, announced on 3 September 2024. Clearview did not object, so the fine is final. The AP imposed no separate fine for the missing EU representative (Article 27).

  • 20 August 2021 · Data Protection Commission (Ireland)€225,000,000
    WhatsApp: insufficient transparency

    WhatsApp did not properly inform users and non-users about the processing of their data, including the sharing of data with other Facebook companies. Following a binding EDPB decision the DPC had to increase its proposed fine.

    The DPC lists 20 August 2021 as the decision date; announced on 2 September 2021. WhatsApp challenged the decision in the Irish courts and before the EU General Court.

  • 15 July 2021 · CNPD (Luxembourg)€746,000,000
    Amazon: targeted advertising without a valid legal basis

    Amazon processed personal data for interest-based advertising on the basis of legitimate interest, which was not a valid legal basis. It also fell short on informing users and on honouring rights such as access, rectification and erasure.

    The administrative tribunal upheld the fine on 18 March 2025. On appeal, the Administrative Court annulled the decision on 12 March 2026 and sent the case back to the CNPD, because the CNPD had not assessed whether Amazon acted intentionally or negligently and had not weighed which corrective measure was most appropriate. The core findings of infringement were confirmed; the Article 21 complaints were held to fall outside the scope of the inquiry.

Checked on 5 November 2026

Frequently asked questions

← Art. 13: Information to be provided where personal data are collected from the data subjectArt. 15: Right of access by the data subject →

Connections

What connects to Article 14 GDPR

Themes where this returns

Where this meets the other law

The counterpart in the other law

Case law

Guidelines

Enforcement and fines

Analysis