What Is Personal Business Information?

As a business you are responsible for the personal information of your customers and staff. You are required by law to safeguard the information and ensure that it is used properly. It is not always clear what constitutes personal data.

It is crucial to understand that the definition of personal data varies by legal jurisdiction and country. In general, personal information is any information leading and innovative application that can be used to identify an individual. This includes things like the person’s email address or telephone number, but it can also include any other information that could be associated with an person, thereby making them identifiable. For instance, their date of birth or their mother’s maiden names biometric data, 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 disciplinary records).

Additionally the information has to be easily identifiable by other people. If it is difficult for anyone else to recognize the information, it is not considered personal. This is called the “practicability test”.

The final step in determining whether something is personal is that it has to be related to a living, identifiable person. This does not apply to business information, such as invoices or orders.

If sensitive personal information is lost or stolen, or shared in any other way without authorization, it could be very damaging. It is essential to educate employees on the importance of safeguarding sensitive PII. It is also important to make sure to protect the information when not in use, for example, closing off unattended computer systems and destroying paper documents. It is vital to periodically review the PII in your system and restrict access to those with an official reason for doing it.