Personally Identifiable Information

Personally identifiable information (PII) is any information that uniquely identifies an individual person. And it is an information that be used on its own or it can be combined with other information to identify an individual. PII is any information about an individual person maintained and managed by an organization. Furthermore, PII is any information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual person’s identity which may include name, social security number (SSN), driver’s license, data of birth, place of birth, home address, mother’s name, or biometric information. Besides, PII is any other information that is linked or linkable to an individual person that may include employment, educational, financial and medical information.

According to common privacy laws and regulations, organizations have a responsibility of protecting PII of individual person. Otherwise, organizations may face serious punishments and fines if they fail to obey the laws and regulations. The protection for the PII raises privacy and security requirements legislation, regulations and rules throughout the world.

Personally identifiable information (PII) may include one or more of the following attributes:

• A person’s full name
• Alias
• Passport number
• Social Security number
• Mother’s maiden name
• Driver’s license number
• Taxpayer identification number (TIN)
• Patient identification number
• Credit card number
• Email address
• Street or home address
• Internet protocol (IP)
• Media access control (MAC) address
• Telephone numbers
• Photographic images
• X-rays
• Biometric raw image or template
• Vehicle registration number
• Place of birth
• Date of birth
• Political or religious beliefs
• Geographical indicators
• Medical information
• Employment information
• Financial information
• Educational information
• Race
• Weight
• Government issued identification number

Some of the most popular privacy laws that apply to PII include the following:

• California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA)
• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
• Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)