Categories

Vocabulary for classifying personal data and its legal context.

These enums are part of the manifest format. Adding members is a MINOR change; removing or renaming members is a MAJOR change (it alters what existing manifests mean — see the widened SemVer policy in CONTRIBUTING).

ErasureStrategy

class ErasureStrategy(StrEnum):
    ...

What happens to a value when its subject is erased.

Member	Value	Description
DELETE	delete	Remove the record (or null the field) outright.
ANONYMIZE	anonymize	Replace the value with an irreversible surrogate; the record survives.
RETAIN	retain	Keep the value untouched — it is under a legal retention duty. Retained fields MUST carry a RetentionPolicy explaining the duty; the audit trail records the retention decision.

LegalBasis

class LegalBasis(StrEnum):
    ...

Art. 6(1) lawful bases for processing.

Recorded per field/store so exports can state why data is held — required Art. 15(1)(a) metadata.

Member	Value
CONSENT	consent
CONTRACT	contract
LEGAL_OBLIGATION	legal_obligation
VITAL_INTERESTS	vital_interests
PUBLIC_TASK	public_task
LEGITIMATE_INTERESTS	legitimate_interests

PiiCategory

class PiiCategory(StrEnum):
    ...

What kind of personal data a field holds.

Categories drive export grouping (Art. 15 bundles are organised by category) and are recorded in the audit trail. Adding members is a MINOR change; removing or renaming members is a MAJOR change.

Member	Value	Description
CONTACT	contact	Email addresses, phone numbers, postal addresses.
IDENTITY	identity	Names, usernames, government identifiers, birth dates.
FINANCIAL	financial	Payment details, invoices, billing references.
BEHAVIORAL	behavioral	Usage history, preferences, interaction logs.
TECHNICAL	technical	IP addresses, device identifiers, cookies, user agents.
LOCATION	location	Geolocation data, time zones tied to a person.
COMMUNICATION	communication	Message bodies, support tickets, user-generated content.
SPECIAL	special	Art. 9 special categories (health, beliefs, biometrics). Handle with care.