The GDPR's Impact on Data Lakes and Big Data

The GDPR does not allow for the indiscriminate collection personal data (as in a Data Lake of Big Data) without having legal jurisdiction. To determine this, the GDPR provides six (6) grounds for processing personal data, referred to as Lawfulness of Processing. [GDPR Article 6, paragraph (1)].

The GDPR recognizes that "The scale of the collection and sharing of personal data has increased significantly. Technology allows both private companies and public authorities to make use of personal data on an unprecedented scale in order to pursue their activities"  [GDPR Citation (6)].  

The GDPR states that "Any processing of personal data should be lawful and fair. It should be transparent to natural persons that personal data concerning them are collected, used, consulted or otherwise processed and to what extent the personal data are or will be processed." and,  "In particular, the specific purposes for which personal data are processed should be explicit and legitimate and determined at the time of the collection of the personal data."  [GDPR Citation (39)].