Article 2
1. This Regulation applies to the processing of personal data wholly or partly by automated means and to the processing other than by automated means of personal data which form part of a filing system or are intended to form part of a filing system.
2. This Regulation does not apply to the processing of personal data:
(a) in the course of an activity which falls outside the scope of Union law;
(b) by the Member States when carrying out activities which fall within the scope of Chapter 2 of Title V of the TEU;
(c) by a natural person in the course of a purely personal or household activity;
(d) by competent authorities for the purposes of 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.
3. For the processing of personal data by the Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 applies. Regulation (EC) No 45/2001 and other Union legal acts applicable to such processing of personal data shall be adapted to the principles and rules of this Regulation in accordance with Article 98.
4. This Regulation shall be without prejudice to the application of Directive 2000/31/EC, in particular of the liability rules of intermediary service providers in Articles 12 to 15 of that Directive.
Österreichische Datenschutzbehörde v WK
The activities of a committee of inquiry set up by a Member State parliament to scrutinise the executive are not, as such, activities concerning national security outside EU law, even where the committee is investigating a police State-protection authority because of suspected political influence over it.
Ligue des droits humains ASBL v Conseil des ministres
Under Article 2(2)(d) and Article 23 of Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the GDPR applies to the personal-data processing envisaged by national legislation transposing Directive 2004/82, Directive 2010/65 and Directive (EU) 2016/681, as regards: (i) processing by private operators; and (ii) processing by public authorities covered, solely or in addition, by Directive 2004/82 or Directive 2010/65. It does not apply to processing envisaged by that legislation where the processing is covered only by Directive (EU) 2016/681 and is carried out by the passenger information unit (PIU) or by the authorities competent for the purposes referred to in Article 1(2) of that directive.