Chapter I · General provisions
Article 4a — Processing of special categories of personal data for bias detection and correction
Official text
Each paragraph records where its wording comes from. Only text reproduced unchanged from the Official Journal is authentic; consolidated text is editorial and has no legal value. Paragraphs, subparagraphs and points each have their own link.
To the extent strictly necessary to ensure bias detection and correction in relation to high-risk AI systems in accordance with Article 10(2), points (f) and (g), of this Regulation, providers of such systems may exceptionally process special categories of personal data, subject to appropriate safeguards for the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons. In addition to the provisions set out in Regulations (EU) 2016/679 and (EU) 2018/1725 and Directive (EU) 2016/680, as applicable, all the following conditions shall be met in order for such processing to occur:
- (a)
the bias detection and correction cannot be effectively fulfilled by processing other data, including synthetic or anonymised data;amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744
- (b)
the special categories of personal data are subject to technical limitations on the re-use of personal data, and state-of-the-art security and privacy-preserving measures, including pseudonymisation;amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744
- (c)
the special categories of personal data are subject to measures to ensure that the personal data processed are secured and protected, subject to suitable safeguards, including strict controls and documentation of the access, to avoid misuse and to ensure that only authorised persons have access to those personal data with appropriate confidentiality obligations;amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744
- (d)
the special categories of personal data are not transmitted, transferred or otherwise accessed by other parties;amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744
- (e)
the special categories of personal data are deleted once the bias has been corrected or the personal data has reached the end of its retention period, whichever comes first; andamended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744
- (f)
the records of processing activities pursuant to Regulations (EU) 2016/679 and (EU) 2018/1725 and Directive (EU) 2016/680 include the reasons why the processing of special categories of personal data was strictly necessary to detect and correct biases, and why that objective could not be achieved by processing other data.amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744
Consolidated text — no legal value · amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744
Providers and deployers of other AI systems and models and deployers of high-risk AI systems may exceptionally process special categories of personal data to the extent that:amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744
- (a)
such processing is strictly necessary to ensure bias detection and correction in view of possible biases that are likely to affect the health and safety of persons, have a negative impact on fundamental rights or lead to discrimination prohibited pursuant to Union law, especially where data outputs influence inputs for future operations; andamended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744
- (b)
all of the conditions and safeguards set out in paragraph 1 are applied.amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744
This paragraph does not create any obligation to conduct such bias detection and correction.amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744
Consolidated text — no legal value · amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744
The formal analysis of Article 4a
Article 6 is formalised first. The remaining articles follow.
Article 4a is formalised node by node: each rule as a deontic position with its operator, each exception with its rank, each predicate resolved against the definitions in Article 3.
What members get, per article
- the rule logic: every norm as a formal position, with the defeater chain that decides which exception wins
- the competency questions and their answers, every unanswered one marked as a gap and named
- the ontology: predicates bound to AISV (AI Standardisation Vocabulary) and to the definitions they depend on, exportable as JSON-LD and OWL
- the documentation: the Article 6(4) assessment record generated from a fact set, with its derivation and the version of the law it was decided against
Built for providers claiming the 6(3) derogation, for the counsel who has to defend that claim, and for the auditor who reads it afterwards.
Access is invite-only and opening in stages. Article 6 is formalised first; the remaining articles follow.
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Commentary in preparation
The official text above is complete. The editorial layer for this article — duties, the roles bound by them, the AISV concepts that model them, and the European standards written to support them — is in preparation, in the same form as the articles already published.
See the published articles