Does personal data also include information about deceased individuals?

The notion of personal data primarily pertains to information that relates to identified or identifiable living individuals. The rationale behind this is that data protection laws and regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the European Union, are designed to safeguard the rights and freedoms of individuals who are alive. When it comes to deceased individuals, their information does not fall under the same privacy protections as that of living persons, primarily because they are not capable of exercising rights regarding their personal information.

In many jurisdictions, the focus remains on the living, as the rights granted to them—such as the right to privacy—cease upon death. This means that data about deceased individuals is generally not treated as personal data under most applicable data protection laws. Exceptions exist in certain contexts, particularly where there may be reasons to protect the information of deceased persons for ethical, historical, or legal reasons, but these are not commonly legislated under personal data protection frameworks.

This foundational understanding clarifies why personal data does not include information about deceased individuals.