Reading the regulator citations

What [GDPR art. 13] / [BOE LOPDGDP art. 11] / [EDPB 03/2020] mean inline, and how to verify each one.

Every paragraph in a miniterms-generated document carries at least one inline citation in square brackets — for example [GDPR art. 13], [BOE LOPDGDP art. 11], or [EDPB 03/2020]. This page explains exactly what those mean and how to verify each one against the canonical source.

The four citation families

You will see citations from four families. Each has a fixed shape and a single canonical source.

1. GDPR (Regulation (EU) 2016/679)

Format: [GDPR art. <N>] or [GDPR art. <N>(<paragraph>)].

Examples:

  • [GDPR art. 13] — information to be provided when personal data are collected from the data subject
  • [GDPR art. 5(1)(e)] — the storage limitation principle, paragraph 1, point (e)
  • [GDPR art. 28] — processor obligations and contract content

Canonical source: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj. Article numbers are stable; paragraph and point references match the consolidated EUR-Lex text.

2. LOPDGDP (Spain, BOE-A-2018-16673)

Format: [BOE LOPDGDP art. <N>].

Examples:

  • [BOE LOPDGDP art. 7] — consent of minors (sets 14 as the minimum age in Spain)
  • [BOE LOPDGDP art. 11] — duty to inform the data subject, the Spanish layer on top of GDPR art. 13/14
  • [BOE LOPDGDP art. 32] — blocking of data after the retention period

Canonical source: https://www.boe.es/eli/es/lo/2018/12/05/3/con. The "con" path is the consolidated version, which you should always prefer when verifying.

3. EDPB guidelines

Format: [EDPB <number>/<year>].

Examples:

  • [EDPB 03/2020] — Guidelines 3/2020 on the processing of data concerning health for scientific research in the context of COVID-19
  • [EDPB 05/2020] — Guidelines 5/2020 on consent under Regulation 2016/679

Canonical source: https://edpb.europa.eu/our-work-tools/general-guidance/guidelines-recommendations-best-practices_en. Use the EDPB's filter for the year and number cited.

4. AEPD circulars and guidance

Format: [AEPD <document slug>].

Examples:

  • [AEPD guia-cookies] — Guía sobre el uso de las cookies (current edition)
  • [AEPD guia-rgpd-pymes] — Guía del Reglamento General de Protección de Datos para pymes

Canonical source: https://www.aepd.es/documento/guias. The slug in the citation maps to the document title in that index.

How to verify a single citation

If you want to check a specific clause against its citation, the workflow is:

  1. Identify the family (GDPR / LOPDGDP / EDPB / AEPD).
  2. Open the canonical source from the list above.
  3. Navigate to the article or document number cited.
  4. Confirm the clause text in your generated policy is consistent with what the regulator says. miniterms paraphrases — it does not quote verbatim, because the policy needs to fit your business, not the regulator's prose style.

If the clause in your generated policy contradicts the cited source, that is a bug and we want to know — email hello@dekimu.com with the slug, the document type, and the clause in question.

Why we cite at all

Spanish and EU regulators increasingly expect controllers to demonstrate accountability — to show their work, not just claim compliance. Inline citations are the lightest-weight way to do that. They also serve a practical purpose: when a clause looks unfamiliar to a reader (your customer, their counsel, an auditor), the citation is the first place they can look to verify it is not invented.

This page is a reference for reading the citations. Whether your specific processing actually triggers the cited obligation is a judgment for legal counsel, not for the generator.

miniterms is not legal advice.