Skip to content
atlas

Don't confuse these

Data ethics vs GDPR

Why they differ

GDPR sets what you must do with personal data; data ethics asks what you should do, also with data the law does not cover.

Data ethics

Compliance & regulation

Asking not only whether a use of data is legal, but whether it is fair, open and in line with what people would expect.

Formal

The values that guide how an organisation collects, combines and uses data, including through AI, beyond what the law demands - fairness, openness, respect for people's choices and avoiding harm. Large Danish companies must report on their data ethics policy in the annual report, or explain why they have none.

In plain English

The law is the speed limit; ethics is slowing down outside a school at home time even though the sign still says 50.

In practice

A Danish bank could legally use card data to spot customers in money trouble and offer them costly loans; its data ethics committee says no and uses the signal to offer free budget advice instead.

Why it matters

Trust breaks faster than laws change - a use of data that is legal but feels creepy can drive customers away and draw public criticism long before any rule is broken.

GDPR

Compliance & regulation

The EU law that protects personal data and gives people rights over how it is used.

Formal

Regulation (EU) 2016/679, applying directly in every member state since 25 May 2018, which sets principles, legal grounds, rights and security duties for processing data about identifiable people, with fines of up to 20 million euro or 4% of global turnover.

In plain English

Information about you is treated as yours - others may borrow it only for a fair reason, must look after it and must tell you what they do with it.

In practice

When a laptop holding customer lists is stolen from the owner's car, a Danish web shop has 72 hours to report the breach to Datatilsynet and must decide whether the customers themselves need to be told.

Why it matters

Before it, data protection rules differed from country to country and were weakly enforced; GDPR gave people the same rights across the EU and made breaking them costly.

Shared connections

Personal data

Atlas is in beta.