Big data brings new possibilities for researches led in social sciences. Aggregating vast quantities of data, and in particular personal data, facilitates the emergence of new knowledges. In consequence, it raises many specific questions on how to reconcile the right to protection of personal data with a freely led scientific research. Can one be prioritized over another? If data protection laws, and especially the new European regulation known as General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), is applicable to research led in social sciences based on Big data, those laws do not necessarily constitute an excessive constraint for researchers. The rights of data subjects (such as the right to information, the right of access, the right to rectification and the right to erasure) and the obligations and responsibilities for researchers are rendered more flexible to facilitate their researches. The difficulty mainly resides in continuing researchers’ acculturation to data protection right