Personal information can be anything that identifies and relates to a living person.
This can include information that when linked with other information, allows a person to be uniquely identified. For example, this could be your name and contact details.
The law treats some types of personal information as ‘special’ because the information needs more protection because of its sensitivity.
This information is made up of:
- racial or ethnic origin
- sexuality and sexual life
- religious or philosophical beliefs
- trade union membership
- political opinions
- genetic and bio-metric data
- physical or mental health
- criminal convictions and offences