Protection of personal data
Article 15
1. Personal data processed for the purposes of this Directive, including the facial image or photograph of the applicant referred to in Article 4(2), shall only be used to verify the identity of the applicant in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 4, to print the uniform EU ETD sticker, and to facilitate travel of that applicant. The assisting Member State and the Member State of nationality shall ensure appropriate security of personal data. 2. Without prejudice to Regulation (EU) 2016/679, an applicant to whom an EU ETD is issued shall have the right to verify the personal data contained in the EU ETD and, where appropriate, to ask for corrections to be made by issuing a new document. 3. No information in machine-readable form shall be included in an EU ETD unless it also appears in the sections referred to in point 6 of Annex II. 4. The assisting Member State and the Member State of nationality shall retain the personal data of an applicant only for as long as necessary, including for the collection of the fees referred to in Article 5. In no case shall that personal data be retained longer than 180 days by the assisting Member State or longer than two years by the Member State of nationality. Upon expiry of the retention period, the personal data of an applicant shall be erased. 5. By derogation from paragraph 4, Member States shall ensure the safe destruction of any returned EU ETD and of all related copies as soon as possible.