Keeping the personal details you collect accurate, secure, and fair

Every organisation handles personal information about customers and staff. Whether it’s a customer’s contact details or an employee’s medical note, all of it is covered by the UK GDPR. Managing this information properly is about protecting people and maintaining trust.

If you remember nothing else, remember this: every record represents a person, not just data on a screen.

1. Understanding what you hold

The first step is knowing what information your organisation keeps and why. This includes:

• Customer details such as names, contact information, and purchase history
• Employee data like payroll, attendance, or performance records
• Notes or correspondence that include personally identifiable details

Mapping what data you hold helps identify risks and unnecessary duplication. It also supports compliance with the UK GDPR’s principles of transparency and purpose limitation. These principles, put simply, are “Keep only what you need, and be clear about why you need it.”

2. Collecting information fairly

Data collection should always have a clear, lawful purpose. Under the UK GDPR, processing must be based on one of six lawful bases, for example consent, contract, or legal obligation, etc.

When collecting information:

• Tell people what you’re doing with their data through clear privacy notices.
• Avoid collecting more data than required for the task.
• Do not reuse data for an entirely different purpose unless you have a lawful reason to do so.

Being upfront about why you collect information helps build confidence and reduces customer and regulatory complaints.

3. Keeping data accurate and up to date

Accuracy is a legal requirement. If information is wrong, decisions made from it may be unfair.

• Review records regularly to make sure they’re correct.
• Update or delete data that is outdated.
• Encourage staff and customers to check their details.

For example, payroll errors or incorrect addresses can cause harm and undermine trust.

4. Securing personal information

Security is essential. Both paper and digital records must be protected from loss or unauthorised access.

• Store files in secure cabinets or restricted folders.
• Limit access to only those who need it.
• Use encryption for sensitive data types, like debit/credit card details of your customers.
• Never share employee or customer information over unsecured channels.

If information is lost, stolen, or accessed by mistake, report it to your privacy lead immediately.

5. Retention and deletion

The UK GDPR’s storage limitation principle requires that personal data be kept only as long as necessary.

• Have a clear retention schedule for different types of data.
• Delete or anonymise information once it is no longer needed; prioritise deletion between the two options.
• Keep deletion logs as proof of compliance.

“Just in case” is not a valid reason to keep personal data.

6. Monday morning takeaways

If you handle customer or employee data:

1. Know what information you collect and why.
2. Keep it accurate and secure.
3. Delete what you no longer need.
4. Report mistakes or breaches quickly.
5. Treat every record as personal.

If you manage a team:

1. Make sure staff understand what personal data is.
2. Provide clear procedures for data entry and updates.
3. Review access rights regularly.
4. Lead by example in how you store and share information.

Quick summary

In plain terms

Handling personal data properly is about respect. Each customer record and employee file represents a real person who expects their information to be treated carefully. Keep only what you need, protect it while you have it, and delete it when you’re done. That is the heart of good data protection.