Purpose limitation and data minimization are key principles in data protection. Purpose limitation means that personal data may only be collected for specified, clear and legitimate purposes. These purposes must be clearly defined in advance and the data must not be further processed in a way that is incompatible with these purposes. This ensures that the processing of data remains transparent and traceable.
Data minimization complements this principle by limiting the collection of data to the necessary minimum. Only the data that is actually required for the specific purpose may be collected and processed. This reduces the risk of unnecessary data collection and contributes significantly to the protection of privacy, as there is less data that could potentially be misused or compromised.