Article 23. Restrictions

• 1.   Union or Member State law to which the data controller or processor is subject may restrict by way of a legislative measure the scope of the obligations and rights provided for in Articles 12 to 22 and Article 34, as well as Article 5 in so far as its provisions correspond to the rights and obligations provided for in Articles 12 to 22, when such a restriction respects the essence of the fundamental rights and freedoms and is a necessary and proportionate measure in a democratic society to safeguard:

• (a)    national security;

• (b)    defence;

• (c)    public security;

• (d)    the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, including the safeguarding against and the prevention of threats to public security;

• (e)    other important objectives of general public interest of the Union or of a Member State, in particular an important economic or financial interest of the Union or of a Member State, including monetary, budgetary and taxation a matters, public health and social security;

• (f)    the protection of judicial independence and judicial proceedings;

• (g)    the prevention, investigation, detection and prosecution of breaches of ethics for regulated professions;

• (h)    a monitoring, inspection or regulatory function connected, even occasionally, to the exercise of official authority in the cases referred to in points (a) to (e) and (g);

• (i)    the protection of the data subject or the rights and freedoms of others;

• (j)    the enforcement of civil law claims.

• 2.   In particular, any legislative measure referred to in paragraph 1 shall contain specific provisions at least, where relevant, as to:

• (a)    the purposes of the processing or categories of processing;

• (b)    the categories of personal data;

• (c)    the scope of the restrictions introduced;

• (d)    the safeguards to prevent abuse or unlawful access or transfer;

• (e)    the specification of the controller or categories of controllers;

• (f)    the storage periods and the applicable safeguards taking into account the nature, scope and purposes of the processing or categories of processing;

• (g)    the risks to the rights and freedoms of data subjects; and

• (h)    the right of data subjects to be informed about the restriction, unless that may be prejudicial to the purpose of the restriction.