data minimization

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the data protection principle requiring that organisations collect only the personal data that is strictly necessary for the specified, explicit, and legitimate purpose for which it is collected, and that they delete data when it is no longer needed for that purpose; enshrined in the GDPR and other modern data protection frameworks, data minimisation is a constraint on the default organisational tendency to accumulate data indiscriminately on the theory that it may prove useful later; it is technically and organisationally challenging to implement because it requires mapping data flows, defining retention periods, and resisting the business logic of data as an asset; it is particularly important in the context of machine learning systems that are trained on large personal datasets, where minimisation creates real tension with the data-hunger of training pipelines