Directive (EU) 2016/680, known as the Law Enforcement Data Protection Directive (LED), complements the GDPR by regulating personal data processing by competent authorities for law enforcement purposes. It aims to ensure that the use of personal data “serves public security while respecting the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons, and in particular their right to the protection of personal data” (Article 1(1)). Of particular importance for AI governance are its safeguards for “automated individual decision-making... including profiling” (Article 11), which prohibit decisions based solely on automated processing that significantly affect individuals, unless authorised by law and accompanied by appropriate safeguards. These provisions laid early foundations for EU debates on algorithmic transparency, fairness, and human oversight in law enforcement AI systems.
Full name: Directive (EU) 2016/680 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Council Framework Decision 2008/977/JHA.