Private vs. Personal

In Microsoft Outlook has the option to tag e-mails with a sensitivity tag. Technically this is fairly meaningless. However sometimes I like to use them.

The confidential tag is quite self explanatory. I always confuse what is the difference between private and personal. So here is one possibility...

• Personal information are things like preferences, political association, likes and dislikes.
• Private information are things like bank account numbers. Stuff that you probably would like to keep secret.