Page 312 - DMGT308_CUSTOMER_RELATIONSHIP_MANAGEMENT

Unit 12: Customer Privacy

directly by name or indirectly by his car registration number or passport number. It is important Notes
to include both types of data within the definition. Equally, it is important to recognize that in
all cases a person’s name may not be enough to identify him. For instance, “Singh” is a very
common family name and may not of itself constitute information that is capable of identifying
a person.
It is important to note that to be able to identify a person, information need not necessarily be
objective identification such as a person’s name, but can be subjective information such as the
opinion that a person is a “reliable” borrower or that a person is “expected to die of a terminal
disease”. It is also important to bring all personal information within this definition regardless
of the format in which the information is stored. For instance, video surveillance footage that
identifies a person should be classified as personal data in order to protect the privacy of the
person involved. Drawings made by patients as part of psychiatric evaluations should similarly
be treated as personal information as they could identify the medical condition of the person.

12.1.15 Personal Sensitive Data

Definition of personal data is very wide while compared to personal sensitive data, which is
more specific and includes various types of information, which, if disclosed inappropriately,
could result in financial and reputational loss to the person concerned.
Almost all the legislations examined listed the following as personal sensitive information:
1. racial or ethnic origin
2. political affiliations or opinions
3. religious affiliations and beliefs or other beliefs of a similar nature

4. membership of a trade union
5. physical or mental health or condition
6. sexual life and criminal record

In addition, the following categories of information have also been treated as personal sensitive
information in some jurisdictions:
1. Genetic information about an individual that is not otherwise health information

2. Information or an opinion about an individual
3. Financial or proprietary confidential corporate data
4. Data on a person’s personality
5. Private family relations
6. Biometric data

7. Social welfare needs of a person or the benefits, support or other social welfare assistance
received by the person
8. Data collected on a person during the process of taxation (except data concerning tax
arrears)

Recommendations

It is important that an appropriate list of items that would constitute sensitive information in
the Indian context be developed. While the first list set out above must form the basis for any list
of sensitive information that is to form part of the Indian legislation, it is important that additional

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