GDPR Article 9: How to Legally Process Special Data - Sprinto (2025)

Have you come across consent prompts for cookie collection while surfing the internet? That results from tightening data privacy regulations like Article 9 of GDPR, which push businesses to take privacy more seriously. These regulations mandate businesses to offer more control to users over how their data gets used and make it easier for them to revoke rights to process their data.

However, not all data is the same; thus, additional safeguards are needed to protect data directly tied to one’s identity, health, and social security.

Enter GDPR Article 9, which is added to enforce tighter regulatory standards around the sensitive aspects of personal data.

But we all know the struggle to decode the winded documentation of such standards. Thus, in this blog, we’ll explore why GDPR Article 9 matters, what it protects, what the exceptions to it are, and what measures businesses need to implement to comply with its strict parameters.

TL;DR

  • The special data category includes sensitive information about ethnicity, religious beliefs, political inclinations, or biometrics.
  • Companies are generally prohibited from processing special categories of data, but the article provides provisions for processing such data under some circumstances.
  • Adherence to Article 9 of GDPR requires baseline compliance and security activities and progress towards complying with GDPR.
GDPR Article 9: How to Legally Process Special Data - Sprinto (1)

Table of Content

What is Article 9 of GDPR?

Article 9 of GDPR outlines what falls under the special category of data that businesses are prohibited from processing, collecting, or storing, and lists the stringent requirements companies would need to meet if they need to process such data.

What are some key prohibitions and exceptions in Article 9?

Article 9 of GDPR clearly lists eight types of personal data that are prohibited from being processed by businesses:

However, the article also lists certain conditions or criteria that businesses need to satisfy under GDPR to process such data.

Here are the prohibitions and exceptions stated by the Article 9 of GDPR:

  1. Racial or ethnic origin

This includes information that may reveal their race, such as skin color, nationality, or native language. It’s considered sensitive data as it can be used to discriminate, hindering one’s access to employment, health insurance, healthcare, and other services.

  1. Political opinions

This refers to any data that depicts an individual’s political views, such as ideologies, affiliations with parties, and more.

  1. Religious or philosophical beliefs

Religious or philosophical beliefs point to an individual’s spiritual inclinations or philosophies.

  1. Trade union membership

Trade union membership information includes whether an individual is a member of a union and their activities within that union.

  1. Genetic data

Genetic data is generally collected from biological samples, which can reveal genetic characteristics about a person’s physiology or health risks.

  1. Biometric data for uniquely identifying individuals

Biometric data entails physical characteristics that can identify an individual, such as fingerprints, iris scans, and voice patterns.

  1. Health-related data

This comprises information about an individual’s physical or mental health status, including medical records and treatment histories.

  1. Data related to sexual orientation

This data is sensitive because disclosure can expose individuals to stigma, discrimination, or even violence. Thus, protecting such personal information is crucial for respecting individuals’ privacy and promoting equality.

What are some key exceptions to Article 9?

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The exceptions provided in Article 9 outline the conditions of lawful processing. These can be bucketed into 6 categories, enabling businesses to process special category data under these legitimate grounds.

Here are the key exceptions to Article 9

1) Explicit consent

Organizations can process sensitive or special category data with verifiable consent from the data subject.

2) Employment and Social Security

In matters related to employment, processing sensitive data becomes necessary for fulfilling obligations related to social security and social protection law, as authorized by member state law. Thus, for the purpose of employment, it becomes legal to collect, process, and store such data.

3) Vital Interests

GDPR also allows data processing if it protects the data subject’s vital interests example, processing information to disclose to a health professional for correct medical diagnosis.

4) Non-Profit Organizations

Article 9 states that data can be processed by the not-for-profit body for legitimate activities related to political, historical research purposes, statistical purposes, and for philosophical, religious, or trade union aims. However, it’s only valid if it directly concerns their members.

5) Publicly Available Data

Data that the subject has made public can be processed

6) Legal Claims

Processing necessary for establishing, exercising, or defending legal claims, fulfilling legal obligations, or delivering legal advice is permitted.

7) Healthcare and medical devices

Processing sensitive data is necessary and legal to offer the best quality of care, recommend suitable medicines, and offer medical devices. Furthermore, the article also permits data to be processed for preventive care or occupational medicine purposes.

8) Public health

Processing is also valid and legitimate when data is gathered to ensure the integrity of public health.

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How can you adhere to GDPR Article 9?

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Complying with GDPR and its section 9 requires strong policies that guide an organization’s operations, controls, and culture.

“Governance and compliance is about creating and maintaining the rules and policies that guide the organization. Compliance ensures that these rules and policies are followed and everything is done correctly, legally, and ethically.” Devika Anil, Lead Auditor at Sprinto

Complying with GDPR Article 9 would typically restrict the business from processing or storing special category data. If they do so, they will need to take additional steps such as:

1. Asking for Explicit Consent

Collect explicit consent from data subjects. This consent must be informed, specific, and unambiguous. To implement this, businesses need to build precise consent forms that explain the type of data they collect, the purpose of processing, and the way they plan to use it. In addition, businesses would also need to ensure that data subjects can easily withdraw consent at any time.

2. Implement Data Minimization

The easiest way to adhere to Article 9 is to limit the data that organizations process to only necessary data. To ensure this, review data collection practices and set up periodic data clean-ups to delete unnecessary or dated data.

3. Maintain Accountability and Documentation

Businesses that process special category data need to keep detailed records of processing activities related to it. This means having policies that govern the types and scope of processing such data.

4. Establish Data Processing Agreements

Ensure that any third parties in processing sensitive data comply with Article 9 of GDPR. To ensure this, businesses must build Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) that outline responsibilities and security measures for all parties involved in handling sensitive data.

5. Conduct Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIA)

As businesses grow and initiate new projects, they take on more risks. Thus, it’s crucial to perform DPIAs when initiating projects that involve processing special categories of personal data by scoring risks associated with data processing activities and assessing the impact of controls in effectively mitigating such risks.

6. Train Employees

Employees are the weakest link, yet the first line of defense against any risk. When it comes to Article 9 of GDPR, humans need to be made aware of their responsibilities in upholding the standards of data protection outlined by it. This means conducting regular training sessions on GDPR compliance, enabling employees to discern between compliant and non-compliant practices.

7. Establish Procedures for Handling Data Breaches

As a business, it’s a must to plan protocols that contain the impact of a breach once it happens. To do that, documenting a clear action plan for identifying and responding to personal data breaches is critical. It’s also suggested that businesses notify authorities and affected individuals about the breach and potential data leaks.

5 Best practices to adhere to GDPR Article 9

Best practices to adhere to Article 9 of GDPR require additional safeguards like access controls, fostering a culture of privacy, and appointing a DPO. Here’s how to do that:

  • Stricter access controls: Enforce access management policies that limit access to sensitive data to only authorized people. To accomplish that, role-based access controls (RBAC) and multi-factor authentication (MFA) are the industry standard.

Effectiveness is subjective, but if you want to measure, say, technical controls, set operational KPIs. Is multi-factor enabled for all accounts? Is traffic encryption enabled? What are the training completion rates and so on? You can use automated tools to get all this information directly from APIs.

Fabian Weber (vCISO and ISO 27001 auditor) with Sprinto

  • Limit Data Retention Periods: Only keep the data for as long as necessary for its intended purpose, then securely delete or anonymize it.
  • Build Privacy by Design and Default: From the start of any project, ensure that GDPR compliance is baked into the design phase, not added as an afterthought. This means developing systems and processes from the ground up to ensure data privacy.
  • Collaborate with a DPO: Involve your DPO or a similar privacy expert in decision-making processes related to sensitive data. Their expertise ensures compliance and effectively mitigates potential risks.
  • Establish a Culture of Security: Create a company-wide culture where privacy is treated as a core value. Beyond training, integrate GDPR principles into everyday workflows, ensuring every team understands their role in compliance.
  • Conduct periodic internal audits: Regular audits are like fine-tuning a complex machine to ensure it runs smoothly and efficiently. You can uncover inefficiencies by routinely reviewing your data processing activities, identifying potential compliance gaps, and making targeted improvements.

Use Sprinto for chaos-free GDPR compliance

Complying with GDPR can be confusing, even for seasoned compliance teams. Sprinto, with its ready-to-launch compliance programs, customizable out-of-the-box policies, and controls pre-mapped to the GDPR framework, can eliminate the chaos and save time.Integrate Sprinto into your tech stack and get started with entity-wide risk assessments, continuous monitoring of control performance, and automated evidence collection.

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FAQ

What are the common challenges of adhering to GDPR article 9?

Usually, organizations find it challenging to identify and discern sensitive information from PII. Moreover, developing policies and templates from the ground up, monitoring control performance, and collecting evidence of their efficacy for a clear audit trail pose significant hurdles in maintaining GDPR compliance.

What is the difference between personal data and special category data?

Personal data refers to any information that can be used to identify you or any natural person. Special category data refers to sensitive details about you, such as your religious beliefs, sexual orientation, healthcare records, and more.

What is the cost of violating Article 9 of GDPR?

Typically, violations of Article 9 of GDPR cost around $4M, but the cost can be higher depending on the size of the organization and the company’s revenue.

GDPR Article 9: How to Legally Process Special Data - Sprinto (2025)
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