OneTrust Certified Privacy Professional Practice Exam

Special categories of personal data, as defined in various data protection laws such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), are types of data that require additional protection due to their sensitive nature. Ethnic origin, health data, and biometric data all fall under this category because they can reveal deeply personal information about individuals that, if mishandled, could lead to discrimination or harm.

Ethnic origin can identify an individual's background and associations, health data relates directly to an individual's physical or mental health, and biometric data can uniquely identify a person based on physical characteristics, which raises privacy concerns.

In contrast, employment history does not fall under special categories of personal data. While employment history is certainly personal data, it doesn't carry the same level of sensitivity and risk associated with misuse as the other listed categories. Therefore, it is treated with standard protection measures rather than requiring the enhanced protections mandated for special categories.