San Marino Law No. 171, special categories of personal data

Article 8(1) prohibits processing personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, of biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, and of data concerning health or a natural person's sex life or sexual orientation.

Article 8(2) lifts that prohibition only in the cases it lists, which mirror the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)'s: the data subject's explicit consent to one or more specified purposes; obligations and rights in the field of employment, social security and social protection law; the vital interests of the data subject or another person where the data subject is incapable of consenting; processing in the course of the legitimate activities of a foundation, association or other not-for-profit body with a political, philosophical, religious or trade union aim, confined to its members and not disclosed onward without consent; data manifestly made public by the data subject; legal claims and courts acting judicially; substantial public interest; preventive or occupational medicine and the provision of health or social care by or under the responsibility of a professional bound by secrecy; public health; and archiving in the public interest, scientific or historical research or statistics.

Because the prohibition attaches to biometric data processed for unique identification, biometric material derived from an ordinary recording is not carved out of it. Law 171/2018 was approved by the Great and General Council on 12 December 2018 and promulgated by the Captains Regent on 21 December 2018, the date carried in the law's own official title, and it states no separate entry-into-force clause, so that promulgation date is the day these provisions began to bind.