What is personal data?

Personal data refers to any information that relates to an identified or identifiable living individual. This definition encompasses a wide range of information, including names, identification numbers, location data, online identifiers, or specific characteristics that can be linked to an individual. The key aspect is that the data must pertain to someone who is alive, emphasizing the protection of individual privacy and personal information.

The other choices do not accurately describe personal data in the same specific manner. Data stored in electronic format may include a variety of types, not all of which are personal. Publicly available information may be accessible to anyone but does not always constitute personal data unless it relates specifically to an identifiable individual. Meanwhile, data that has been anonymized cannot be tied back to an individual, thus it falls outside the bounds of personal data since it does not allow for the identification of a living person.