As an owner of a business you must deal with personal information of both your staff and customers. You are legally required to safeguard that information and ensure it is handled correctly. However, it’s difficult to determine what constitutes personal information.
It is essential to recognize that the definition of personal information differs depending on the legal jurisdiction and country of origin. In general, personal data is any information that can be used to identify a person. This includes data such as the person’s email address or telephone number, but it includes any other information that could be associated with an individual, making them identifiable. For instance the date of birth or their mother’s maiden names biometric information, information about passports and visas or credit card numbers, and other sensitive information regarding employment (e.g. performance ratings and discipline records).
The information must be able to be identified by others. If it is difficult for others to identify the information, it is not considered to be personal. This is called the “practicability” test.
The final step to determine whether something is personal is whether it pertains to an actual person. This does not apply to business information such as invoices, orders and other documents for business.
Personal information that is sensitive to the public can be extremely harmful if stolen, lost or disclosed without authorization. It is crucial to educate employees on the importance of protecting sensitive PII. You should also take steps to protect the information when not being used like logging off computers that are not being used and burning documents on paper. It is also important to regularly audit the PII stored within your system and restrict access to individuals who have the business requirement to do so.
https://www.bizinfoportal.co.uk/2021/04/15/identifying-the-business-finance-function-you-may-have/