Definitions- information classification

• Sensitive Information

  Information that should be protected from being publicly released as it could harm the safety or privacy of an organisation or an individual
• Sensitive Informationexamples

  • Medical data that could be embarrassing to an individual if released
  • Financial data that will negatively impact the company if made public to competitors
• Non-Sensitive Information

  Information that can be released publicly with no fear of negative consequence
• Non-Sensitive Information examples

  • Store information including shop addresses, opening hours and the names of senior managers
  • Product information including prices, online reviews and general availability
• Private Information


  Private information relates to an individual and it should not be shared with anyone else without the data subject's permission
• Private Informationexamples

  • Home addresses, contact information, birth dates and banking details
  • Employee data such as linked bank accounts and addresses
• Public Information

  Released to the public and can therefore be seen by anyone. Public information is non-sensitive
• Public Informationexamples

  • Social media usernames, posts and shared images
  • Public business information including addresses, promotional material and opening times
  • A government report like the national census every ten years
• Personal Information

  Identifiable data about a specific individual
• Personal Informationexamples

  • Full name, date of birth, gender, marital status, medical history, sexual orientation and voting history
• Business Information

  Any kind of data about a specific business. This information could be public or private
• Business Informationexamples

  • Address of its headquarters
  • Financial data or employee details
  • Annual sales figures
• Confidential Information

  Private data that is more restricted than sensitive information, with access limited to only those who need to know
• Confidential Information

  • Doctor / therapist notes
  • Business Profits and losses
  • Trade secrets
• Classified Information

  Highly sensitive information stored by a government institution, requiring the highest levels of restricted access. Access is usually restricted by law and only viewable by authorised individuals or groups
• Classified Information

  • Military data
  • Terrorism precautions
  • Crime scene reports
• Anonymised Information

  Anonymisation removes personally identifiable data from information so that an individual cannot be identified. This allows the information to be used in much wider context without running the risk of legal action
• Anonymised Information

  • Partially anonymised information - where some of the personal information has been removed and replaced by a symbol
  • Completely anonymised information - where all identifiable data has been removed
• Bank details are often partially or completely anonymised. A partially anonymised credit card number might be listed as: **** - **** - **** - 7427
• Problems with anonymising data

  • If sensitive data is not anonymised enough and the person can be identified
  • Useful information could be lost if too much data is anonymised
  • The public could lose trust in an organisation if data is insufficiently anonymised
• Shop opening times

  • Non-Sensitive Information
  • Public Information
• Medical history

  • Sensitive Information
  • Private Information
• Twitter username

  • Public Information
• Crime scene report


  • Classified Information