Recognising Personal Data

This page gives working examples to help you understand what personal data is.

Background information

Understand personal data at UCL.
Personal data is categorised according to the level of sensitivity with which it is to be handled. Understand the different categories of data so you can know how to handle it responsibly:
- Categories of data

Examples of data

The table shows how and why data is classified according to the different categories.

Examples of UCL data	Category of data	Comments
CV	Personal	Contains identifiable information: name, date of birth and address.
Interview notes	Personal / special category:	Depends on the CV, but if it contains data that reveals a person's political persuasion for example then it should be treated as special category personal data.
Contracts	Personal	Contracts contain name, address, salary and employee number.
DBS checks	Special category	Copies of the individuals' passport, driver’s licence and other supporting documents (e.g. bank statement, utility bill etc). Departments should NOT be copying or saving the certificate.
Passports	Personal / special category	Passports (and visas in some circumstances) are required to be signed and verified by the departmental or line manager and sent to HR securely. Contains identifiable data such as name, address, DOB and possibly biometric information .
Occupation health referral	Special category	Medical data is considered to be sensitive personal data so it is listed as special category data.
Sicknote	Special category	Contains identifiable information such as name and the nature of the condition the employee may have.
Health records	Special category
Changes to appointment	Personal / special category	Data added to request forms contain identifiable data such as name, address, DoB (and salary). Special category: one-off payment forms (e.g. Form 7 payments) require bank details for payments for work done.
Payroll data	Personal	Data, such as P45, new starter declarations, staff registration forms (contain bank details, address, name, qualifications) and national insurance numbers.
Resignation letters	Personal/ special category	Resignation letters don’t necessarily contain any identifiable information, they tend to contain when the employee is intending to leave. The leavers' forms contain identifiable data such as the name of the individual.