Ireland: GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 (Ireland) overview, DPC role, key definitions and principles, lawful bases, transparency, data subject rights, and international data transfers

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Practice notes

This Practice Note offers a broad, general overview of data protection law in Ireland, setting out its key concepts and provisions. Irish data protection rules are chiefly driven by the application of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) (EU GDPR), and there are also separate, more detailed Practice Notes that advise on particular aspects of data protection at an EU level. This Practice Note summarises the most significant of those aspects and clearly sets them within an Irish regulatory context. Ireland is a notable forum for data protection analysis today, as many major personal‑data‑rich businesses, including large social media platforms and digital service providers, have their European headquarters in Ireland.

Introduction to data protection law and its purpose

Data protection law is generally designed to ensure that information about living individuals (within the meaning of ‘personal data’) is handled fairly, appropriately, securely and responsibly at all times. Its overarching aim is to ensure personal data is not used in a manner that compromises the rights and freedoms of natural persons. To that end, data protection laws in Ireland impose numerous legal obligations on those ‘controlling’ and ‘processing’ personal data. They also confer rights on those concerned individuals...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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