EU Data Protection Law in Action: Introducing the GDPR

This chapter is intended to introduce the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to social scientists, offering an overview of key legal
concepts and provisions from Chapters II and III of the Regulation. The chapter has two main objectives: first, to bridge the gap between empirical and doctrinal research by explaining fundamental GDPR provisions to non-legal audiences; and second, to examine the extent to which these provisions have been explored through empirical research. This includes identifying common methods used, revealing that, only six years after the Regulation’s implementation, a rich body of empirical research has emerged to evaluate its effectiveness. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the challenges social scientists face when empirically investigating the impact of the GDPR, such as translating empirical findings into legal conclusions.