As a company you are responsible for the personal information of your customers and staff. In law, you are legally required to safeguard this information and ensure that it is used correctly. However, it is not always easy to determine what constitutes personal information.

It is important to note that the definition of personal data is different according to the country and the jurisdiction. In general, it refers to any information that could identify an individual. This could include information such as the email address of a person or telephone number, but it can also include any other information which can be linked to an individual, making them identifiable. For example their birth date or maiden name of their mother, biometric data and information about visas and passports as well as credit card details as well as other sensitive data related to employment (e.g. performance ratings and discipline records).

In addition the information has to be easily identifiable by other people. If it is extremely difficult for someone else to recognize the information, then it is not considered personal. This is the “practicability test”.

The final factor in determining whether something is personal is that it has to be about a living, identified person. This does not include business documents like invoices, orders or any other documents for business.

If sensitive personal information is stolen, lost, stolen, or disclosed in any other way without authorization, it could be extremely detrimental. It is crucial to educate employees about the importance of safeguarding sensitive PII. Also, you must ensure that you secure the information even when not in use, such as shutting down unattended computer systems and eliminating paper documents. It is important to check regularly the PII continue reading this within your system and to restrict access to those with an official reason for doing this.