As a business you are responsible for the personal information of your clients and employees. You are legally required to safeguard that information and ensure that it is used correctly. It’s not always clear what constitutes personal data.
It is essential to realize that the definition of personal information varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and country of origin. In general, personal information is any information that can be used to identify the identity of a person. This could include information such as the email address of a person or phone number, but it can also include any other information which can be linked to an individual, making them identifiable. For example the date of birth or their mother’s maiden names biometric information, information about passports and visas as well as credit card details and other sensitive data regarding employment (e.g. performance ratings and disciplinary records).
In addition the information should be reasonably identifiable by others. If it is very difficult for someone else to recognize the information, it is not considered to be personal. This is called the “practicability test”.
The final step in determining if something is personal is to determine if it pertains to the life of a person. This does not apply to business information such as invoices, orders and other documents for business.
If sensitive personal information is stolen, lost or stolen, or shared in any other way without authorization, it can be extremely detrimental. It is essential to educate employees about the importance of protecting sensitive PII. You should also make steps to secure the information when it is not being used for example, by logging off computers without supervision and eliminating the paper records. It is also essential to regularly check the PII stored in your system and limit access to only those who have the business requirement to access the information.
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