Under GDPR is age included under special category or personal data? Whilst age does fit with personal data surely it could also fit with special category data as age can also be used to discriminate? Any guidance would be appreciated.
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Under GDPR is age included under special category or personal data? Whilst age does fit with personal data surely it could also fit with special category data as age can also be used to discriminate? Any guidance would be appreciated.
HellenB
This is why data protection takes such thought!
Age is a protected characteristic in English Law, i.e. there are specific protections to ensure there is no discrimination in employment, justice, social care etc.
It isn’t however classified as sensitive personal data for data protection purposes.
The governance pathway therefore is that there has to be purpose and legal basis for processing, with additional policy considerations that are the responsibility of other professionals within the organisation for its operational use.
Yorkie82
There is a conclusive enumeration in the UK GDPR of what defines special category data:
– personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin;
– personal data revealing political opinions;
– personal data revealing religious or philosophical beliefs;
– personal data revealing trade union membership;
– genetic data;
– biometric data (where used for identification purposes);
– data concerning health;
– data concerning a person’s sex life; and
– data concerning a person’s sexual orientation.
Age is not listed so it generally does not need to be treated as special category data. There is also no direct link between discrimination and the special category element. It is about the sensitivity of the data. But special category data includes personal data revealing or concerning the above types of data. In your example, age discrimination (older age) could be based on the assumption that older age means weaker health or age-related health conditions, this may count as special category data.