Sensitive Personal Information

What is sensitive personal information?

Sensitive personal information is the kind of personal data that can do the most harm if it is misused or exposed. Privacy laws give it stricter rules than other personal data.

California's privacy law, the CCPA, lists it in Section 1798.140(ae) of the statute. The list includes:

• Social Security, driver's license, state ID and passport numbers.
• Account logins and card or bank account numbers together with the password or code.
• Precise geolocation.
• Racial or ethnic origin, citizenship or immigration status, religious beliefs and union membership.
• The contents of mail, email and texts, unless the business is the intended recipient.
• Genetic data, neural data, biometric data used to identify someone, health data, and data about sex life or sexual orientation.

The EU's GDPR calls a similar group "special categories" in Article 9. Using them is prohibited unless an exception applies, such as the person's explicit consent.

A real change we caught

Venpo flagged this change: Apollo's new Terms let it scan the inbox you sync. The June 26, 2026 update added a section that lets Apollo scan the inboxes and contact lists you sync, and keep data it already collected after you opt out. Email contents are on the CCPA's sensitive list, so a feature that reads your inbox touches that category directly.

Why it matters to you

Stricter rules mean more ways to get it wrong. Under CCPA Section 1798.121, people can tell a business to limit its use of their sensitive personal information to what is needed to provide the service.

Some of this data can reach your vendors without you planning it. Call recordings, support chats, email content and HR tools can all carry it. If a vendor starts transcribing calls or scanning inboxes, your exposure grows.

What to check

• Whether the vendor's terms forbid uploading sensitive data, and whether your team does it anyway.
• Whether the vendor's features, such as call recording or email sync, collect message contents.
• Whether the privacy policy uses sensitive data for anything beyond the service, such as ads or AI training.
• Whether the vendor handles health data for you. If you are covered by HIPAA, the US health privacy law, you may need a business associate agreement.

How Venpo helps

Venpo monitors your vendors' privacy policies and terms and emails you when they start collecting or using sensitive data in new ways, such as call recording or inbox scanning. The Fine Print Scan also shows whether each vendor sells data or uses it for ads.