Personal data; personally-identifiable data

Personal data is data concerining an individual. Personally-identifiable data is personal data from which the identity of the individual may be deduced. In practice the two terms are often treated synonymously: however, personal data may be anonymized so that the identity of the individual is no longer discernable. The data is however still personal, and the consent of the individual concerned must be obtained to process his or her personal data in this way, and for the subsequent use of the anonymized data.