What are personal details?

Summary

Your front door has a lock on it to prevent complete strangers from wandering in and rummaging through your drawers. You need to protect your personal details too, not with locks perhaps, but just as carefully. We explain what your personal details are. The information in this guide applies to England and Wales. Personal details or data is information that is personal to you, which could or does identify you. What do we mean by personal details? All these things and more: * Your name (including any middle names) * Where you live, and where you’ve lived in the past * Your date of birth * Your race and ethnic background * Where you were born * Where you went to school * What jobs you do and what jobs you’ve done in the past * Your phone numbers * Your email addresses * Your driving licence number * Your passport number * Who you live with * Financial details, including bank account and credit card numbers * Your National Insurance number * Your NHS number * PINs (Personal Identification Numbers) and passwords * Key information (such as your mother’s maiden name or the name of your pet) which may be used to identify you * Your habits and preferences – what you like, what you do in.

Key information

• •Your name (including any middle names)
• •Where you live, and where you’ve lived in the past
• •Your race and ethnic background
• •What jobs you do and what jobs you’ve done in the past
• •Your driving licence number
• •Financial details, including bank account and credit card numbers
• •Your National Insurance number
• •PINs (Personal Identification Numbers) and passwords
• •Key information (such as your mother’s maiden name or the name of your pet) which may be used to identify you
• •Your habits and preferences – what you like, what you do in your spare time etc
• •Other personal information, such as health issues or disabilities
• •How to tell an organisation if you are not happy about how they are using your data.

Practical guidance

• •Source: [What are personal details?](https://www.advicenow.org.uk/get-help/what-are-personal-details)

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