Which statement about confidentiality and data protection is true?

• A. The belief that data protection is the same as confidentiality.
• B. The requirement to share personal data with third parties when not needed.
• C. The idea that confidentiality restricts information to authorized people, while data protection is the legal rules for handling personal data.
• D. Confidentiality only applies to electronic data.

Answer: (C)

Confidentiality means keeping information private and sharing it only with people who are authorized to see it. Data protection is the legal framework that governs how personal data is collected, stored, used, and safeguarded. The statement correctly combines these ideas by recognizing that confidentiality restricts access to information to authorized individuals, while data protection establishes the legal rules for handling personal data. This distinction matters in practice: you must respect who can access information (confidentiality) and you must follow the laws about how personal data is processed (data protection). The other possibilities miss the point: treating data protection as the same as confidentiality overlooks the legal scope; sharing data with third parties when not needed breaches both principles; and confidentiality applies to all forms of data, not just electronic.