Personally Identifiable Information
Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is any information that can uniquely identify a person.
Compare to private information and PHI.
Contents
Definition
Personally Identifiable Information is any information that can be used to distinguish or trace an identity, whether alone or when used in connection with other information.
PHI is a subclass of PII with additional requirements and considerations.
Federal Regulations
The Privacy Act of 1974 established requirements for the federal government's use of PII.
The Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA) identifies security controls on the use of PII. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has produced guides and memoranda to further specify the requirements of these acts.
Department of Defense Privacy Program
DoD 5400.11-R defines the Privacy Program which controls the use of PII within the U.S. Department of Defense.
If a PII leak is discovered to have (potentially or actually) occurred, organizations must issue a report...
- to the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) in 1 hour
- to Component Privacy Office in 24 hours
- and to the Defense Privacy, Civil Liberties, and Transparency Division in 48 hours
Freedom of Information Act
The Freedom of Information Act defines PII-based restrictions on freedom of information requests.