Is an individual’s name on its own considered a personal data identifier?

An individual’s name on its own is generally not considered a personal data identifier because it lacks the uniqueness necessary to distinguish one individual from another in a meaningful way. Names can be common and shared by many individuals, which makes them insufficient on their own to identify a specific person without additional context.

For a name to serve as a personal data identifier, it usually needs to be combined with other information, such as an address, date of birth, or any specific characteristic that ties that name to an individual uniquely. Thus, while names are certainly used in the process of identifying individuals, standing alone they don’t fulfill the criteria necessary to be classified as a personal data identifier.

This understanding aligns with broader privacy and data protection principles, which require more specific or unique identifiers to adequately protect individual identities.