personalinformation

Personal information, also referred to as personal data in many privacy frameworks, is information that can be used to identify an individual either directly or indirectly. It includes obvious identifiers such as name, email address, phone number, and physical address, as well as more sensitive data like government identifiers, financial details, health information, biometric data, or employment history. It also covers online identifiers such as IP addresses, device IDs, and cookies when these can be linked to a person. Data can be directly identifiable or obtained through combination with other data, making some data capable of identifying someone. Anonymized or de-identified data that does not allow identification is generally not considered personal information.

Privacy and data protection laws regulate the collection, use, retention, and disclosure of personal information. Typical requirements include a lawful basis for processing, fair and transparent notice, purpose limitation, data minimization, accuracy, storage limitation, and security measures. Individuals usually have rights such as access to their data, correction of inaccuracies, deletion, data portability, restriction or objection to processing, and withdrawal of consent. Organizations must provide privacy notices, maintain records of processing activities, implement safeguards, and report certain breaches.

Common privacy practices aim to protect personal information throughout its lifecycle. This includes minimization of data collected, implementation of security controls, retention schedules, de-identification or pseudonymization, and privacy impact assessments for high-risk processing. Cross-border transfers rely on legal safeguards, and third parties handling personal information should be contractually bound to protect it. Effective governance relies on ongoing training, auditing, and incident response planning.