A data subject is a natural person whose personal data is being processed. In the context of websites, the data subject is every visitor whose data you collect through cookies or forms.
Who is a data subject?
A data subject is any identified or identifiable natural person. This may be:
- A website visitor
- An online shop customer
- An application user
- An employee
- A business partner (natural person)
Data subject rights under the GDPR
- Right to information – To know what data is being processed
- Right of access – To obtain a copy of one's data
- Right to rectification – To correct inaccurate data
- Right to erasure – The "right to be forgotten"
- Right to restriction – To restrict processing
- Right to data portability – To obtain data in a machine-readable format
- Right to object – To object to processing
- Right to withdraw consent – To withdraw consent at any time
Data subjects and cookies
A website visitor is a data subject if cookies enable their identification (even indirectly). They have the right to:
- Be informed about the cookies in use
- Reject non-essential cookies
- Change preferences at any time
- Request erasure of data linked to cookies