The GDPR's material scope, as defined in Article 2(1), explicitly extends to non-automated (i.e., manual) processing of personal data, but only under a specific condition. This condition is that the data must "form part of a filing system or are intended to form part of a filing system." Article 4(6) defines a 'filing system' as any structured set of personal data accessible according to specific criteria. Therefore, physical documents like notebooks or hard copy files fall under the GDPR's purview only when they are organized in a structured manner that allows for retrieval based on criteria related to individuals, not just when they are outputs of or inputs for automated systems.

A. The origin of the physical data (e.g., being printed from a computer) is not the sole determinant for the GDPR's application to the physical copy itself.
B. The future intention to computerize the data is one possibility, but the GDPR also applies to purely manual filing systems with no intention of automation.
C. This is incorrect because the GDPR explicitly covers processing "other than by automated means" if the data is in a structured filing system, as stated in Article 2(1).

1. General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, 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. General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Article 4(6): "'filing system' means any structured set of personal data which are accessible according to specific criteria, whether centralised, decentralised or dispersed on a functional or geographical basis."

3. General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679, Recital 15: "The protection of natural persons should apply to the processing of personal data by automated means, as well as to manual processing, if the personal data are contained or are intended to be contained in a filing system."

4. Voigt, P., & von dem Bussche, A. (2017). The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): A Practical Guide. Springer. In Chapter 3, Section 3.2.1 on Material Scope, the authors explain that "the GDPR also applies to non-automated processing of personal data, if they are stored in a filing system or are intended to be stored in a filing system... A filing system requires a structured set of personal data which are accessible according to specific criteria." (p. 21). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57959-7