meta_id 3412595

On July 8, 2026, the European Data Protection Board (EDPB) launched a public consultation on Guidelines 02/2026 on Anonymisation. The consultation invites stakeholders to submit feedback on the draft guidelines, which address anonymisation and pseudonymisation techniques under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The guidelines provide clarification on how organisations can effectively anonymise personal data to ensure it falls outside the scope of GDPR protections. Anonymisation is a critical data protection mechanism, enabling organisations to process information without triggering certain regulatory obligations when data is genuinely anonymised. The guidelines establish principles and methodologies for determining whether data has been sufficiently anonymised, addressing practical challenges organisations face when implementing anonymisation strategies. The EDPB developed these guidelines to provide consistent interpretation across EU member states and to support data controllers, processors, and data protection officers in applying anonymisation techniques correctly. The guidelines also distinguish between anonymisation and pseudonymisation, clarifying when each technique is appropriate and what legal implications each carries under GDPR. The consultation period runs until October 30, 2026, at 23:59 CET. Stakeholders including companies, data protection authorities, academic institutions, professional associations, consumer organisations, and individuals are invited to submit comments using the EDPB's online feedback form. All submissions will be screened for unauthorised content such as spam before publication on the EDPB website. Respondents should note that their contributions may be subject to public access requests under EU transparency regulations. The EDPB will review all feedback received and incorporate relevant comments into the final version of the guidelines, which is expected to be published following the consultation period.