Legitimate interests refer to the lawful reasons an organization may process personal data based on its own or a third party's interests, provided these interests are not overridden by the rights and freedoms of the data subject. This is one of six lawful bases for processing personal data and requires organizations to balance their business interests against individual privacy rights.
Legitimate Interests
Regulatory Definitions
- GDPR (Article 6(1)(f)): Processing is lawful when necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests pursued by the controller or by a third party, except where such interests are overridden by the interests or fundamental rights and freedoms of the data subject. Organizations relying on this basis must conduct a Legitimate Interests Assessment (LIA) to demonstrate the balancing test between organizational needs and data subject rights (Recital 47).