Law on Personal Data Protection or Law 1581 of 2012.

It recognises and protects the right of all individuals to know, update and rectify the information that has been collected about them in databases or files that are susceptible to processing by public or private entities.

What is personal data?

When we talk about personal data, we refer to all information associated with a person and which allows them to be identified. For example, their identity document, place of birth, marital status, age, place of residence, academic, work or professional career. There is also more sensitive information such as health status, physical characteristics, political ideology, sex life, among other aspects.

How is personal data collected?

Personal data is the information necessary for a person to interact with others or with one or more companies and/or entities in order to be fully individualised from the rest of society, making it possible to generate information flows that contribute to economic growth and the improvement of goods and services. Thus, for example, when we make a credit application to a financial institution, we are required to fill out forms with our personal information, or when we make a purchase and to make the sales invoice they request data such as identity card number, email, address and contact telephone number, among others.