The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a technical guidance note on what is personal data for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA). The guidance is in the form of a flowchart of numbered questions which, when taken in order, aims to assist data protection practitioners in identifying personal data, particularly in circumstances where it is not obvious whether data falls within the definition. It does not cover the meaning of "relevant filing systems" on which the ICO intends to issue further guidance in the near future. The new guidance will be welcomed by data protection practitioners in light of certain discrepancies in the definition of "personal data" between the Court of Appeal's decision in Durant v Financial Services Authority in December 2003 and a recent opinion on the concept of personal data issued by the EC Article 29 Working Party.