Personally Identifiable Information (PII)

---

Personally identifiable information (PII) is data that can be used to uniquely identify, contact, or locate an individual or, in the case of identity theft, to impersonate him or her.

• covers a very broad range of information with subcategories like sensitive PII
  • e.g., US social security number, biometrics, financial records, medical records, immigration identifiers, criminal history
  • requires stricter handling and protection than other types of PII
• E.g., cell phone number
• can also be responses to challenge questions
  • E.g., “what is your favorite color/pet/movie”
• Information can be PII depending on context
  • E.g., browsing web using static IP address, IP is PII
  • IP that is dynamically assigned by ISP may not be considered PII

Personal Government-issued Information

Personal Government-issued Information that is issued to individuals by federal or state governments is also PII.

• E.g., SSN, passport, driver’s license, birth/marriage certificates, etc.
• data collected and held by US federal government is subject to specific privacy legislation
  • E.g., US Privacy Act