GDPR and the processing of criminal conviction data across Europe

The GDPR does not make criminal record checks illegal in Europe. Instead, Article 10 of the GDPR, entitled ‘Processing of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences’ defers to the laws of each Member State to determine whether the processing of criminal record information is lawful or not. This has meant that across the EEA (and the UK) there is a wide range of legislation as to whether or not employers can consider relevant criminal record convictions...