CIPP/E Study Guide

CIPP/E Glossary

60 terms defined · Last reviewed: · By Victor Humenhuk (CIPP/E certified)

This glossary defines the terms that actually come up when you study for the CIPP/E: the definitions in Article 4 of the GDPR, the concepts the EDPB and the old Article 29 Working Party have built on top of them, the ePrivacy vocabulary that trips people up, and the CJEU cases that gave those terms their current meaning. Each entry says what the term means, where it comes from in the law, and where it sits in the wider framework, so you can see the concept rather than memorise a sentence.

The definitions are taken from this site's own CIPP/E study notes, written by Victor Humenhuk. They reflect how the terms are used in the GDPR, the ePrivacy Directive, the Law Enforcement Directive, EDPB and WP29 guidance and CJEU case law - not a generic dictionary entry. Where a term is genuinely contested or unsettled in practice, the entry says so instead of pretending there is a clean answer.

The most efficient way to use this when revising is to work outwards from the terms you cannot explain out loud. Look a term up the moment you meet it in the study guide, read the definition once, cover it and say it back in your own words, then follow the link to the topic page for the full treatment and the context you need for scenario questions. The comparison pages below are worth going through separately: most CIPP/E questions do not test whether you know a definition, they test whether you can tell two neighbouring concepts apart under time pressure. When a pair stops feeling slippery, move to the practice questions and check it holds up in scenario form.

A

B

C

D

E

G

H

I

J

L

N

O

P

R

S

T

U

W

Keep going

The full CIPP/E study guide · Free practice questions · All study notes

Commonly confused pairs

Side-by-side breakdowns of the distinctions this exam tests most often.