1.1 - Holders of Information

Information can be held by organisations. There are many types of organisation that can hold data:

• Individual Citizens: People hold their own data. This is information specific to the holder. Some information that individuals hold is public, for example, their name, and other information is private, for example, their usernames and passwords.
• Business: Information about the company will be held by businesses. This could include sales reports, customer information and employee data.
• Educational Institutions: Schools and universities hold information about students, parents and teachers. This includes phone numbers, home addresses and dates of birth. This information allows the schools to create detailed profiles about it's attendees. It also allows for relatives to be contacted if a student gets into trouble.
• Governments: Large amounts of data about the public is held by the government. The government runs a census which asks people all about who they are and what they do. This includes place of residence, income, religion to name a few.
• Charities: Foundations such as the Red Cross hold information about donors such as their email address and name. This means that they can send information about new calls to action and allows donors to easily donate to them. Previous donors are more likely to donate again so this information can be very beneficial.
• Healthcare Services: Organisations such as the NHS will hold large amounts of data about their patients. This will include their medical history, their contact information, and their date of birth. This is useful to healthcare organisations for a multitude of reasons. For example, they are able to contact patients about vaccines they are eligible when they reach a certain age.
• Community Organisations: Community institutions such as youth clubs and sporting societies hold contact and personal information about their members. This allows them to plan events such as meetings, conventions and fixtures and communicate the dates and details about them to the members.