Explain personal data under the GDPR including the distinction between 'personal data' and 'sensitive personal data' and whether the rules are strict or principles based?

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) defines personal data as any information that relates to an identified or identifiable natural person, such as name, address, email address, phone number, identification numbers, online identifiers, and location data. Personal data can be any information that can be used to identify a person directly or indirectly. Sensitive personal data refers to special categories of personal data that require extra protection due to their sensitive nature, including racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, genetic data, biometric data, health data, and data concerning a person's sex life or sexual orientation. The GDPR provides additional safeguards for the processing of sensitive personal data. The rules under the GDPR are both strict and principles-based. The GDPR sets out strict requirements for the collection, storage, and use of personal data, and organizations must comply with these rules. However, the GDPR also sets out several principles that organizations must follow when processing personal data. These principles include: Lawfulness, fairness, and transparency: Organizations must process personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner. Purpose limitation: Personal data must be collected and processed for specific, explicit, and legitimate purposes. Data minimization: Personal data must be adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed. Accuracy: Personal data must be accurate and kept up to date. Storage limitation: Personal data must be kept for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed. Integrity and confidentiality: Personal data must be processed in a manner that ensures its security and confidentiality. Accountability: Organizations must be able to demonstrate their compliance with the GDPR. In summary, the rules under the GDPR are both strict and principles-based, with a focus on protecting personal data and ensuring that organizations process it in a lawful and transparent manner. The distinction between personal data and sensitive personal data is important, as sensitive personal data requires extra safeguards due to its sensitive nature.