The GDPR Countdown: Employers Are You Ready? – Special Category Data

As mentioned in our previous GDPR update, the fifth update in this series will deal with how an employer processes sensitive personal data which are now known as 'special categories' of personal data under the GDPR.

For the purposes of the GDPR, sensitive personal data include information in relation to racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data for unique id purposes, data concerning health or sex life or sexual orientation.  Interestingly for employers, the definition of sensitive personal data includes the processing of employee personal data relating to his or her membership of a trade union.