Right to rectification — fix wrong data about you (Art. 16)

The right to rectification (Art. 16) sounds boring and wins real fights: wrong birth dates that break identity checks, an old address on a debt file, “defaulted” flags at a credit bureau that kill your mortgage, a wrong diagnosis code in a hospital system. What you can demand: correction of inaccurate data without undue delay, and completion of incomplete data — including by a supplementary statement where the record is judgement-based. How: write to the organisation, identify the exact data, state what is wrong, attach evidence where you have it. They get the standard one month. While they check, you can demand restriction (Art. 18): the contested data is frozen — kept but not used — until accuracy is resolved. That matters when a credit register entry is actively blocking you. The ripple duty again (Art. 19): they must pass corrections to every recipient of the wrong data — ask them to confirm which. Disputes about opinions: a school report or medical opinion is not “inaccurate” just because you disagree; but the underlying facts must be right, and you can usually have your own statement added. Refused or ignored? Escalate via Company ignores my request — accuracy disputes are bread-and-butter cases for data protection authorities.