Data Protection in a Nutshell – A Quick Reference Guide
We understand what information the DPA applies to
- The DPA applies to ‘personal data’. Understanding whether you process personal data is critical to understanding whether the DPA applies to your activities.
- Personal data is information that relates to a living, identified or identifiable individual.
- Examples: a name or number, online identifiers such as an IP address or cookie identifier, or other factors such as a bank account statement or an invoice.
- An individual may be directly identifiable, for example through a name.
- An individual may be indirectly identifiable, for example through an account number that can be linked to an individual. You should take into account the information you are processing together with all the means reasonably likely to be used by either you or any other person to identify that individual.
- The DPA applies to personal data that you are ‘processing’. Processing is a catch-all term and covers anything you do with the personal data, e.g. collection, storage, deletion, analysis, disclosure, etc.
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