Some Issues of Differentiation of Personal and Non-Personal Data in the Law of the European Union

Abstract

The paper is devoted to the problems of differentiation of the categories «personal data» and «nonpersonal data» in the law of the European Union in the context of information and communication technologies development. The definitions of these concepts, their relationship and interrelation in the context of the application of the concept of dichotomous separation of information in EU law are considered. The criteria for distinguishing between personal and non-personal data are analyzed, based on the essential characteristics and relevance of the information being processed, as well as on the characteristics of the data subject and the possibility of his identification. The place of pseudonymized and anonymized data in the classification of information is indicated. An algorithm used in the EU for determining the category of data is formulated, which has a relativistic nature and is based on the assessment of the risk of identifying an individual in combination with the concept of «reasonable probability». An approach to the legal regulation in the European Union of processing mixed data sets, which are often encountered in practice and include both personal and non-personal data, is considered.