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27 September 2007 / Helen Hart
Issue: 7290 / Categories: Features , Data protection
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Personal concepts

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The EU is promoting a broader definition of personal data, says Helen Hart

The EC Article 29 Data Protection Working Party has issued its opinion regarding the definition of personal data (Opinion 4/2007 on the Concept of Personal Data). UK organisations could find their statutory obligations more onerous if UK courts apply the working party’s wide interpretation instead of the controversial restrictive interpretation of the concept of personal data in Durant v Financial Services Authority [2003] EWCA Civ 1746, [2003] All ER (D) 124 (Dec). The Information Commissioner’s Office has issued a technical guidance note at www.ico.gov.uk which largely follows the opinion.
Art 2(a) of the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC (the Directive) defines personal data as “any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person”. The opinion analyses the four main elements set out in the definition.

“Any information”

Personal data includes any statements about a person. It covers objective information, such as the presence of a certain substance in one’s blood, and subjective information, opinions or assessments. It does not have to be

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