Guideline
Guidelines 1/2026 on processing of personal data for scientific research purposes
- Date
- Status
- adopted
- Body
- European Data Protection Board (EDPB)
- Reference
- Guidelines 1/2026, versie voor publieke consultatie
What it is about
Adopted on 15 April 2026 as a version for public consultation. The consultation ran from 16 April to 25 June 2026 and is closed. The guidelines give six key indicative factors to determine whether processing is scientific research within the meaning of the GDPR. Research that meets all six is presumed to be scientific research. If it does not, the controller must justify why it still qualifies. They also cover principles (purpose limitation, storage limitation), legal bases, information obligations, data subject rights, roles (controller, processor, joint controllers) and Article 89(1) safeguards. Examples include AI research. No final version was seen on 15 September 2026.
What this means in practice
If you do research with personal data you must be able to substantiate that it is real scientific research before using the Article 89 relaxations. You record the legal basis, the safeguards and the division of roles with partners. Until the final version this remains a draft framework.
The GDPR articles concerned
- Article 5: Principles relating to processing of personal data
- Article 6: Lawfulness of processing
- Article 9: Processing of special categories of personal data
- Article 13: Information to be provided where personal data are collected from the data subject
- Article 14: Information to be provided where personal data have not been obtained from the data subject
- Article 17: Right to erasure (‘right to be forgotten’)
- Article 21: Right to object
- Article 89: Safeguards and derogations relating to processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes
Source: EDPB public consultation pagechecked on 15 September 2026
Summary and practical reading by Praxikon. Not legal advice; the source prevails.
Connections
What connects to this development
Themes where this returns
The counterpart in the other law
- Article 2 AI Act: Scope
via Using special categories of personal data to detect bias
- Article 3 AI Act: Definitions
- Article 5 AI Act: Prohibited AI practices
- Article 6 AI Act: Classification rules for high-risk AI systems
- Article 10 AI Act: Data and data governance
- Article 11 AI Act: Technical documentation
via Keeping records: record of processing, technical documentation and logs
- Article 12 AI Act: Record-keeping
via Keeping records: record of processing, technical documentation and logs
- Article 14 AI Act: Human oversight
- Article 18 AI Act: Documentation keeping
via Keeping records: record of processing, technical documentation and logs
- Article 19 AI Act: Automatically generated logs
via Keeping records: record of processing, technical documentation and logs
- Article 26 AI Act: Obligations of deployers of high-risk AI systems
via Keeping records: record of processing, technical documentation and logs
- Article 50 AI Act: Transparency obligations for providers and deployers of certain AI systems
- Article 86 AI Act: Right to explanation of individual decision-making
Case law8 of 16
- Mousse: asking for Mr or Ms when selling a train ticket is not necessary
2025-01-09 · final, Hof van Justitie van de EU (Eerste kamer), Mousse tegen Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés (CNIL) en SNCF Connect
- Noord-Nederland District Court upholds DPA fine for village livestream, reduces it to 375 euros
2025-01-09 · status not established, Rechtbank Noord-Nederland
- Schrems v Meta: no unlimited retention and aggregation of data for targeted advertising
2024-10-04 · final, Hof van Justitie van de EU (Vierde kamer), Maximilian Schrems tegen Meta Platforms Ireland Limited
- Interim relief judge: DPA must redact fine amount when giving an enforcement decision to complainants
2024-05-31 · status not established, Rechtbank Den Haag, voorzieningenrechter (kort geding, team handel)
- Council of State: 600,000 euro fine for wifi tracking in Enschede stays annulled
2026-07-29 · final, Raad van State, Afdeling bestuursrechtspraak
- EDPS v SRB: pseudonymised data are not always personal data for everyone, but the information duty applies from collection
2025-09-04 · final, Hof van Justitie van de EU (Eerste kamer), Europese Toezichthouder voor gegevensbescherming (EDPS) tegen Gemeenschappelijke Afwikkelingsraad (SRB)
- Overijssel District Court revokes DPA fine for wifi tracking in Enschede
2024-02-02 · final, Rechtbank Overijssel
- SCHUFA: a credit score on which third parties draw strongly is automated decision-making
2023-12-07 · final, Hof van Justitie van de EU (Eerste kamer), OQ tegen Land Hessen, met SCHUFA Holding AG als interveniënt
Guidelines8 of 12
- Guidelines 1/2024 on processing of personal data based on Article 6(1)(f) GDPR (legitimate interest)
2024-10-08 · adopted, European Data Protection Board (EDPB)
- Guidelines 03/2026 on web scraping in the context of generative AI
2026-07-07 · under consultation, European Data Protection Board (EDPB)
- Opinion 28/2024 on certain data protection aspects related to the processing of personal data in the context of AI models
2024-12-17 · final, European Data Protection Board (EDPB)
- Guidelines on transparency under Regulation 2016/679
2018-05-25 · final, Article 29 Working Party, bekrachtigd door de European Data Protection Board (EDPB)
- Guidelines 05/2020 on consent under Regulation 2016/679
2020-05-04 · final, European Data Protection Board (EDPB)
- Guidelines 02/2025 on processing of personal data through blockchain technologies
2026-07-07 · final, European Data Protection Board (EDPB)
- Guidelines 01/2025 on Pseudonymisation
2025-01-16 · adopted, European Data Protection Board (EDPB)
- Guidelines on Automated individual decision-making and Profiling for the purposes of Regulation 2016/679
2018-05-25 · final, Article 29 Working Party, bekrachtigd door de European Data Protection Board (EDPB)
Enforcement and fines8 of 14
- Ten municipalities fined a total of 250,000 euros for unlawful files on Muslim residents
2026-02-03 · final, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens
- Experian Netherlands fined 2.7 million euros for credit scoring without legal basis or information
2025-10-16 · final, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens
- Dutch DPA and tennis federation KNLTB end litigation: fine cut from 525,000 to at most 250,000 euros
2025-10-18 · status not established, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens
- 600,000 euro fine for AS Watson (Kruidvat) over tracking cookies without consent
2024-05-02 · annulled, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens
- 500 euro fine and penalty order for Stichting Oud Lemmer over webcam livestream
2021-07-09 · status not established, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens
- Dutch DPA fines Uber 824.99 million euros for automated driver deactivation
2026-08-21 · under appeal, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens
- DPA cuts Kruidvat fine to 50,000 euros on objection
2025-05-27 · status not established, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens
- Coolblue fined 40,000 euros on objection for cookies without consent
2024-12-23 · status not established, Autoriteit Persoonsgegevens
Legislation in motion6 of 10
- Proposal: definition of scientific research, purpose limitation and information duty for research (Article 4(38), 5(1)(b) and 13(5) GDPR)
2025-11-19 · under negotiation, Europese Commissie
- Proposal: exception for biometric verification under the data subject's sole control (Article 9(2)(l) GDPR)
2025-11-19 · proposal, Europese Commissie
- Proposal: legitimate interest for development and operation of AI (new Article 88c GDPR)
2025-11-19 · proposal, Europese Commissie
- Council: Irish Presidency continues with a revised compromise, Antici Group 11 September 2026
2026-09-11 · under negotiation, Raad van de Europese Unie, Iers voorzitterschap
- Proposal: exception for incidental special category data in AI development (Article 9(2)(k) and 9(5) GDPR)
2025-11-19 · proposal, Europese Commissie
- Proposal: no information duty in clear, non data-intensive relationships (Article 13(4) GDPR)
2025-11-19 · proposal, Europese Commissie