AI Governance Engineer
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Lawful basis

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One of the six grounds in GDPR Article 6 that make processing of personal data lawful: consent, contract, legal obligation, vital interests, public task and legitimate interests 1. For AI, each processing moment (training, retrieval, inference, logging) needs its own basis, recorded per dataset and stage.

Developed in
ch. 19, Lawful basis for training versus inference
Chapters
ch. 19, Privacy & AI
Source
1 numbered reference, listed below

Where it is used

9 chapters of the Body of Knowledge use the term. Each link opens the first section that does.

Lawful basis: mentions per chapter20 mentions of the term across 9 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter01 Definition: 1 mention01 Definition104 The Stack: 2 mentions04 The Stack208 Regulatory Map: 3 mentions08 Regulatory Map311 AI Defined: 1 mention11 AI Defined112 Governance Program: 3 mentions12 Governance Program314 Development: 2 mentions14 Development215 Deployment: 3 mentions15 Deployment316 Fairness & XAI: 1 mention16 Fairness & XAI119 Privacy & AI: 4 mentions19 Privacy & AI4No mentions in the other 14 chaptersSource: the Body of Knowledgev0.5.0
Lawful basis: mentions per chapter20 mentions of the term across 9 of the 23 chapters of the Body of Knowledge; the chapters the glossary cross-references are drawn solid.Cross-referenced chapterOther chapter0001 Definition: 1 mention101020304 The Stack: 2 mentions20405060708 Regulatory Map: 3 mentions3081011 AI Defined: 1 mention11112 Governance Program: 3 mentions3121314 Development: 2 mentions21415 Deployment: 3 mentions31516 Fairness & XAI: 1 mention116171819 Privacy & AI: 4 mentions41920212223Source: the Body of Knowledge v0.5.0
Mentions per chapter How often each chapter names the term, with the chapters the glossary cross-references drawn solid. The longest bar is where to read the term in use; bars spread across many chapters mark a term that runs through the discipline.
Mentions as a table
Mentions of Lawful basis per chapter
ChapterMentionsCross-referenced
00 Preface0No
01 Definition1No
02 Why Now0No
03 Values & Principles0No
04 The Stack2No
05 Patterns0No
06 The Role0No
07 Maturity Model0No
08 Regulatory Map3No
10 Reading List0No
11 AI Defined1No
12 Governance Program3No
13 Risk Management0No
14 Development2No
15 Deployment3No
16 Fairness & XAI1No
17 Incidents0No
18 EU AI Act0No
19 Privacy & AI4Yes
20 Existing Law0No
21 AI Laws Worldwide0No
22 Principles & Standards0No
23 AI Agents0No

Patterns that use this term

3 pattern pages use the term, most mentions first.

Lawful basis: related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedColour: stack layer of the pattern01 Govern-as-Code02 Inventory04 Runtime ControlsLawful basisRelated terms (3)Data card · RelatedData cardData provenance · RelatedData provenanceDataset admission gate · RelatedDataset admission gatePatterns using it (3)Dataset Admission Gate, 1 mention · Uses the termDataset Admission GateDeactivation, Localisation & Retirement Runbook, 1 mention · Uses the termDeactivationVendor / Model Due-Diligence Gate, 2 mentions · Uses the termVendor / Model Due-Diligence
Lawful basis: related terms and patternsThe term at the centre; related terms on solid edges, the terms it is contrasted with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer.RelatedColour: stack layer of the pattern01 Govern-as-Code02 Inventory04 Runtime ControlsRelated terms (3)Data card · RelatedData cardData provenance · RelatedData provenanceDataset admission gate · RelatedDataset admission gatePatterns using it (3)Dataset Admission Gate, 1 mention · Uses the termDataset Admission GateDeactivation, Localisation & Retirement Runbook, 1 mention · Uses the termDeactivationVendor / Model Due-Diligence Gate, 2 mentions · Uses the termVendor / Model Due-DiligenceLawful basis
The term's neighbourhood Terms related to this one on solid edges, terms it is often confused with on dashed edges, and the patterns that use it most in the colour of their layer. Follow a dashed edge to check the distinction before you use either term.
Neighbourhood as a table
Neighbourhood of Lawful basis
FamilyItemRelation
Related termsData cardRelated
Related termsData provenanceRelated
Related termsDataset admission gateRelated
Patterns using itDataset Admission Gate, 1 mentionUses the term
Patterns using itDeactivation, Localisation & Retirement Runbook, 1 mentionUses the term
Patterns using itVendor / Model Due-Diligence Gate, 2 mentionsUses the term
  • Dataset admission gate

    A pipeline control that lets a training job read only datasets whose admission record is complete and signed by the data owner: lawful basis or licence…

  • Data provenance

    Information about the entities, activities and people involved in producing data, used to judge its quality and trustworthiness.

  • Data card

    Structured, versioned documentation of a dataset (provenance, lawful basis, rights, composition and known limitations) maintained as code alongside the system.

Sources

  1. [1] Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (General Data Protection Regulation) (Arts. 4(1), 4(5), 4(7), 4(8), 4(12), 4(14), 5, 6, 9, 12(3), 22, 25, 28(2) and 28(4), 30, 33, 35; Recital 26). Publications Office of the EU (EUR-Lex). 2016-04-27. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj/eng (verified: primary)

Definitions of legal terms paraphrase the cited text, which governs. Dated statements are as of .

Cite this term

García Aibar, J. (2026). Lawful basis. In AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis & Body of Knowledge (v0.5.0), Glossary. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197. https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/lawful-basis. CC BY 4.0

BibTeX

@misc{aige2026lawfulbasis,
  author  = {Jorge García Aibar},
  title   = {{Lawful basis}},
  note    = {Glossary, AI Governance Engineering: The Thesis \& Body of Knowledge, version 0.5.0},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.5281/zenodo.22956197},
  url     = {https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/lawful-basis}
}