---
title: "The articles we cite, in plain language"
url: "https://consenttheater.org/law"
description: "Plain-language renderings of the GDPR and ePrivacy articles ConsentTheater relies on, with the verbatim official text alongside and a link back to the EU's canonical source."
---

Law references

# The articles we cite, in plain language

Last updated 2026-04-25

ConsentTheater's tracker classifications and policy pages reference a small number of EU legal provisions. Each page below pairs a short, plain-language explainer with the verbatim official text, and links back to the canonical source on [eur-lex.europa.eu](https://eur-lex.europa.eu). We host these articles for navigation convenience — for any binding legal use, always consult the original.

*   [
    
    GDPR Article 5
    
    Principles relating to processing of personal data
    
    The six core principles every controller must satisfy: lawfulness, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, and integrity. Plus the accountability rule.
    
    ](/law/gdpr/art-5/)
*   [
    
    GDPR Article 6
    
    Lawfulness of processing
    
    The six legal bases for processing personal data: consent, contract, legal obligation, vital interests, public task, and legitimate interests.
    
    ](/law/gdpr/art-6/)
*   [
    
    GDPR Article 7
    
    Conditions for consent
    
    What it means to "have consent" under the GDPR — burden of proof, plain language, the right to withdraw, and freely-given conditions.
    
    ](/law/gdpr/art-7/)
*   [
    
    GDPR Article 17
    
    Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten")
    
    When a data subject can require erasure, what exceptions apply (free expression, public interest, legal claims, archiving for research), and how it interacts with public publication.
    
    ](/law/gdpr/art-17/)
*   [
    
    GDPR Article 89
    
    Safeguards and derogations relating to processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes
    
    The research-and-archiving carve-out that lets datasets like ours preserve historical observations under appropriate safeguards, even when other rights would otherwise apply.
    
    ](/law/gdpr/art-89/)
*   [
    
    ePrivacy Directive Article 5
    
    Confidentiality of the communications
    
    The "cookie article" — the rule that storing or accessing information on a user's terminal device requires prior informed consent, with a narrow strictly-necessary exemption.
    
    ](/law/eprivacy/art-5/)

Across the channel

[

UK GDPR & PECR

United Kingdom — same articles, ICO regulator

The UK GDPR retains the EU text in domestic law (Schedule I, Data Protection Act 2018), and PECR Regulation 6 carries the cookie rule. Substantively the same articles, enforced by the ICO. This page maps each EU article to its UK counterpart.

](/law/uk-gdpr-and-pecr/)

Looking for a different article? The full GDPR (99 articles, 173 recitals) and the full ePrivacy Directive are available on the EU's legal portal:

*   [Regulation (EU) 2016/679 — General Data Protection Regulation](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj)
*   [Directive 2002/58/EC — ePrivacy Directive](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2002/58/oj)