Data protection by design is an approach that ensures privacy and data protection considerations are integrated from the very beginning of designing any system, service, product, or process that involves personal data. It requires implementing appropriate technical and organizational measures proactively to embed data protection principles—such as data minimization and safeguarding individual rights—throughout the entire lifecycle of data processing. This means data protection is not an afterthought but is "baked in" to the foundation of processing activities and business practices. Under GDPR (Article 25), data protection by design mandates that organizations consider the risks and necessary safeguards at the planning stage of processing and continuously during processing. This includes measures like pseudonymisation and limiting data collection and access as a default, ensuring that only necessary data for specific purposes is processed. In summary, data protection by design is a proactive, preventive approach to integrating privacy protections early and throughout the data processing lifecycle to comply with regulatory requirements and protect individuals' rights effectively.
