Compliance
GDPR Requirements for AI Systems
Building compliant LLM applications for EU data protection
GDPR applies to any organization processing personal data of EU residents—including AI applications. If your LLM handles user data, you need to understand these requirements.
Does GDPR apply to AI systems?
Yes, GDPR applies to any AI system that processes personal data of EU residents, regardless of where the organization is located. This includes LLMs that process names, emails, or any information that can identify individuals. Key requirements include lawful basis for processing, data minimization, and data subject rights.
Automated Decision-Making
What is Article 22 and automated decision-making?
Article 22 gives individuals the right not to be subject to decisions based solely on automated processing that significantly affect them. If your AI makes decisions about credit, employment, or similar matters, you must provide human oversight, explain the logic involved, and allow individuals to contest decisions.
If your AI makes consequential decisions, you must:
- Provide meaningful information about the logic involved
- Allow human intervention and review
- Enable individuals to express their point of view
- Allow individuals to contest the decision
Data Subject Rights
What are DSAR requirements for AI?
Data Subject Access Requests (DSARs) require you to provide individuals with their personal data within 30 days. For AI systems, this includes prompts containing personal data, AI responses about the individual, and any inferences or profiles created. You must be able to locate and export this data.
Key data subject rights for AI:
- Right of access — Provide copies of personal data processed
- Right to erasure — Delete personal data on request
- Right to portability — Export data in machine-readable format
- Right to object — Stop processing for certain purposes
Building Compliant AI
How do I make my LLM application GDPR compliant?
For GDPR compliance: 1) Establish lawful basis for processing personal data, 2) Implement data minimization - don't collect more than needed, 3) Enable data subject rights (access, deletion, portability), 4) Document processing activities, 5) Implement PII detection and handling, 6) Conduct Data Protection Impact Assessments for high-risk processing.
DriftRail helps with GDPR compliance by providing:
- PII detection to identify personal data in prompts and responses
- DSAR handling capabilities to locate and export user data
- One-click GDPR compliance reports
- Audit logs documenting all processing activities
- Data export in standard formats