As the owner of a business, you have to deal with the personal details of your employees and customers. You are required by law to safeguard the information and ensure it is handled correctly. It’s not always easy to determine what constitutes personal information.
It is essential to realize that the definition of personal data varies by legal jurisdiction and country. In this post general, it refers to any information that can identify an individual. This includes information such as the name of the individual, email address, or phone number, as well as any other information that could be linked to an individual and make them identifiable by their date of birth and mother’s maiden name. biometric data such as passport and visa information as well as credit card details, and other sensitive employment data (e.g. Performance ratings and disciplinary records).
The information should be easily identifiable by others. If it is difficult for anyone to recognize the information, then it isn’t considered to be personal. This is called the “practicability test”.
The final way to determine if something is personal is to determine if it is about someone who is alive. This excludes information that is business-related, like invoices or orders.
Sensitive personal information can be extremely harmful if lost, stolen or otherwise disclosed without authorization. It is important to train employees on the importance of protecting sensitive PII. You must also take steps to protect the information even when not in use, including shutting down unattended computer systems and destruction of paper documents. It is also important to periodically review the PII stored in your system and limit access to only those who have an obligation to do so.