The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights is the legal document that sets out core rights protected within the European Union, including respect for private life and the protection of personal data. In cyber security, it matters because it gives privacy and data protection a constitutional-level role, not just a compliance one.
For defenders, the Charter helps explain why controls such as access limitation, data minimization, encryption, and careful retention rules are important. These measures reduce both breach impact and unlawful processing risk. For attackers, any system that ignores these rights can create wider harm: exposed logs, excessive data collection, or weak pseudonymization can reveal sensitive information and make later abuse easier. The Charter therefore frames privacy as a security requirement tied to how systems collect, store, share, and analyze data.