Understanding Personal Information: What is not Considered Personal Information?
As we live in a digital age, personal information is becoming increasingly important. More and more companies are collecting our information to tailor advertisements to our liking or improve their products. However, not all data collected is considered personal information.
What is personal information?
The Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) defines personal information as “information about an identifiable individual.” This means any data that can be used to identify a person, such as their name, address, email, phone number, or social insurance number.
What is not considered personal information?
One type of information that is not considered personal is anonymous data. This is data that cannot identify an individual on its own. For example, if a company collects information about the most visited pages on their website, they do not collect any personal information as the data is anonymous.
In addition, publicly available information is not considered personal information. This includes information found in public records, such as court proceedings, real estate transactions, and business licenses.
Examples of non-personal information
Other forms of information that are not considered personal are aggregate data and de-identified data. Aggregate data collects information from a group of people and summarizes it, making it impossible to identify any individual. De-identified data removes personal information from a dataset, creating anonymous data that is no longer personal information.
For example, a healthcare company may collect data on the number of patients with a particular disease but will not collect any information that identifies the individual patients. This data is considered aggregate and is not considered personal information.
Conclusion
Understanding what is and what is not considered personal information is crucial for both individuals and companies alike. While personal information must be protected by laws and regulations such as PIPEDA, non-personal information can be collected and used freely. It is important to use this data ethically and ensure that any anonymization or aggregation techniques used are effective in removing personal information.
