GDPR compliance is no longer optional for websites that operate in or serve visitors from the European Union. Whether you run a small business blog or a large e-commerce platform, understanding your obligations under the General Data Protection Regulation is essential. This guide walks through the key requirements and explains how ArgosAI helps you stay compliant.
What Is GDPR and Who Does It Apply To?
The General Data Protection Regulation came into force in May 2018. It applies to any organization that processes the personal data of EU residents — regardless of where the organization itself is based. If your website has visitors from the EU and you collect any data (names, emails, IP addresses, cookies), GDPR applies to you.
Personal data under GDPR includes anything that can identify an individual: names, email addresses, phone numbers, location data, IP addresses, and even behavioral data collected through cookies and analytics tools. For property owners with IP security cameras in Athens or any other Greek city, the rules apply the moment camera footage can identify a person.
Core GDPR Principles
GDPR is built around six principles for handling personal data:
- Lawfulness, fairness and transparency — you must have a legal basis for processing data and be open about how you use it.
- Purpose limitation — data collected for one purpose cannot be repurposed without consent.
- Data minimization — only collect data that is strictly necessary.
- Accuracy — keep personal data accurate and up to date.
- Storage limitation — do not keep data longer than necessary.
- Integrity and confidentiality — protect data against unauthorized access and accidental loss.
GDPR and Security Cameras
Security cameras present a specific GDPR challenge because they continuously capture footage that may include identifiable individuals. Greek law (Law 4624/2019) implements GDPR at the national level and the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (HDPA) regularly audits CCTV installations.
Key requirements for camera systems include: displaying visible signs that CCTV is in operation, limiting the camera’s field of view to your own property (not public streets or neighboring properties), applying a maximum retention period of 15 days for recorded footage, and restricting access to recordings to authorized personnel only.
For holiday rental owners, our Airbnb camera legal guide covers the specific rules that apply to short-term lets, where guests have heightened privacy expectations.
What Your Website Needs
Most websites need at least three things to meet baseline GDPR requirements:
A cookie consent banner. Analytics tools, advertising pixels, and embedded widgets (YouTube, Google Maps) all set cookies. Under GDPR, you must ask for consent before non-essential cookies fire. The consent must be freely given, specific, and withdrawable at any time.
A privacy policy. Your policy must clearly state what data you collect, why, how long you keep it, and who you share it with. See our privacy policy as an example of GDPR-compliant disclosure.
A data subject rights process. Users have the right to access their data, correct it, delete it (“right to be forgotten”), restrict processing, and data portability. You need a process to handle these requests — typically within 30 days.
How ArgosAI Handles GDPR
ArgosAI applies privacy-by-design principles across all security installation projects. Our AI-powered systems process video data locally where possible, minimizing the volume of personal data leaving your premises. This matters especially for camera installations in Crete, Mykonos, and other island locations where cloud connectivity may be slower and local processing is preferable in any case.
For businesses deploying facial recognition or access control systems, we provide full documentation of data flows, retention periods, and deletion schedules — everything you need to demonstrate compliance to a supervisory authority.
The key advantage of choosing a local Greek provider over Chinese cloud-based systems is data sovereignty. Our guide on why we don’t use Chinese cloud infrastructure explains why this matters under GDPR’s data transfer rules.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Treating cookie consent as a formality is the most common mistake. A pre-ticked box, a banner that only has an “Accept” button, or a banner that fires tracking scripts before consent is obtained — all of these violate GDPR.
For camera systems, the equivalent mistake is installing a camera that covers a neighbor’s garden or a public footpath. Even if unintentional, this creates liability. When we design camera placement for properties across Santorini, Rhodes, or Thessaloniki, field-of-view analysis is part of the standard installation process.
Getting Started
Compliance starts with a data audit: map every place your system collects, stores, or transmits personal data. From that map you can identify which legal bases apply and what retention policies are needed.
Check our pricing page for system options, or contact ArgosAI to discuss how we can design privacy compliance in from the start.