Article 21 — Right to object
GDPR, Regulation (EU) 2016/679
What does GDPR Article 21 say?
Short answer, straight from the official text
1. The data subject shall have the right to object, on grounds relating to his or her particular situation, at any time to processing of personal data concerning him or her which is based on point (e) or (f) of Article 6(1), including profiling based on those provisions.
Source: GDPR, Regulation (EU) 2016/679, read 2026-08-14.
| In the act | EU 2016/679 |
| Chapter | III · Rights of the data subject |
| CELEX | 32016R0679 |
| Read on | 2026-08-14 |
Official text
Read from the EU Publications Office for this CELEX number. The wording stands as published; nothing here is rewritten or summarised.
Jump to a point: Point 1 · Point 2 · Point 3 · Point 4 · Point 5
1. The data subject shall have the right to object, on grounds relating to his or her particular situation, at any time to processing of personal data concerning him or her which is based on point (e) or (f) of Article 6(1), including profiling based on those provisions. The controller shall no longer process the personal data unless the controller demonstrates compelling legitimate grounds for the processing which override the interests, rights and freedoms of the data subject or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims.
2. Where personal data are processed for direct marketing purposes, the data subject shall have the right to object at any time to processing of personal data concerning him or her for such marketing, which includes profiling to the extent that it is related to such direct marketing.
3. Where the data subject objects to processing for direct marketing purposes, the personal data shall no longer be processed for such purposes.
4. At the latest at the time of the first communication with the data subject, the right referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be explicitly brought to the attention of the data subject and shall be presented clearly and separately from any other information.
5. In the context of the use of information society services, and notwithstanding Directive 2002/58/EC, the data subject may exercise his or her right to object by automated means using technical specifications.
The article continues in the official text.
Other articles in this chapter
- Article 12
- Article 13
- Article 14
- Article 15
- Article 16
- Article 17
- Article 18
- Article 19
- Article 20
- Article 22
- Article 23
The same rule in other acts
These articles carry the same official heading. The wording is not identical; read each text at its own source.
- EUDPR Article 23 — Right to object
Who does this apply to
The register names five roles. Open a role to see the duties this act places on it, each row with its article and its source.
Does this apply to us?
- Do ai governance rules apply to a cloud provider?
- Do personal data rules apply to a cloud provider?
- Do cross-border data rules apply to a cloud provider?
- Do cybersecurity rules apply to a cloud provider?
- Do health data rules apply to a cloud provider?
- Do online platforms rules apply to a cloud provider?
All roles in the register · All questions by role
The text is quoted from the official source and is not legal advice. A national court reads the language version that binds in its jurisdiction.
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Machine-readable summaries for AI agents: /llms.txt and /llms-full.txt.
