Also known as: personal information
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person. An identifiable person is one who can be identified directly or indirectly by reference to an identifier such as a name, identification number, location data, online identifier, or one or more factors specific to physical or physiological characteristics.
Progressive Healthcare pharmacies report names, addresses, and dosages for patients prescribed high-risk medications into a secure state database with access limited to regulators. Patient Philip Powell objects that the collection invades his privacy. The state maintains the system under reasonable safeguards for health oversight, so the administrative recordkeeping proceeds without constitutional violation.
A state law requires initiative petition circulators to wear badges disclosing their names and addresses. Pablo Perez, a circulator for a ballot measure, refuses and challenges the rule. Because the requirement burdens core political speech and is not narrowly tailored to a compelling interest, the disclosure mandate is struck down.
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Personal data includes any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person, such as names, identification numbers, location data, or online identifiers. The definition focuses on whether the person can be identified directly or indirectly from the data.
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No. Administrative collection of personal information such as patient prescription records is permissible when reasonable safeguards protect against improper disclosure. The collection serves legitimate regulatory purposes without invading a protected zone of privacy.
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Laws requiring disclosure of personal information in core political speech, such as petition circulation, are subject to strict scrutiny. They are struck down when not narrowly tailored to a compelling interest because restrictions on anonymity in political advocacy are presumptively suspect.
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