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Sensitive personal data

There is a difference between general personal data and sensitive personal data.

The General Data Protection Regulation makes a difference between "general" personal data and sensitive personal data. Sensitive data is data that reveals a person's race or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership and personal data concerning a person's health and sex life. Data concerning health may for example comprise sick leave, pregnancy and doctor's visits. Handling such data is normally prohibited but there are exceptions. Sensitive personal data must also be protected more than other data.

(We no longer refer to 'race' in Swedish laws. The term 'racial origin' is used in the General Data Protection Regulation but it is also stated that this does not imply that the European Union accepts theories which attempt to determine the existence of separate human races.)

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If the information in English is different from the Swedish version of this page, the Swedish version applies.

Latest update: 19 July 2022
Page labels Data protection