Data minimisation
Also known as: minimisation principle · collection limitation
Data minimisation is the principle that an organization should collect only the information necessary for the purposes it has declared, and nothing more.
It is the highest-return principle in all of data protection, because it acts at the source: information never collected does not need to be secured, retained, logged, or deleted on request.
It applies over time too, under the name storage limitation: keeping data indefinitely "just in case" is the exact opposite of the principle.
It is checked field by field. The question to ask of a form is, for each box: what happens if I remove it?
What it means for a small business
It is the one compliance measure that also lowers technical cost. Fewer fields means less storage, less attack surface, and less work on the day a deletion request arrives.
So what actually applies to you?
A definition tells you what a term means, not what your organization must do. The assessment answers the second question — free, no credit card.
Updated September 1, 2026 · Educational definition; not legal advice.