---
title: "What is personal data?"
description: "Personal data or data of a personal nature refers to any information that makes it possible to directly or indirectly identify a natural person..."
url: https://help.sarbacane.com/en/articles/281-what-is-personal-data
collection: "Data Protection"
updated: 2026-04-23
language: en
alternates: [fr, es]
---

# What is personal data?

Personal data or data of a personal nature refers to any information that makes it possible to directly or indirectly identify a natural person...

Personal data, or data of a personal nature, refers to any information that makes it possible to identify a natural person directly or indirectly. This is a crucial concept in the context of protecting individual information.

For example, the name or contact details of a company are not considered personal data. 

 Conversely, if we take the example of an email address such as first.last@companyname.com, it is classified as personal data, because it specifically targets a natural person.

For an even more detailed definition, we invite you to consult [this page on the CNIL website.](https://www.cnil.fr/fr/definition/donnee-personnelle)

The main objective of data protection is to ensure the confidentiality and security of information that makes it possible to identify each individual.