What is PII or Personally Identifiable Information?

DHS defines personally identifiable information or PII as any information that permits the identity of an individual to be directly or indirectly inferred, including any information that is linked or linkable to that individual, regardless of whether the individual is a U.S. citizen, lawful permanent resident, visitor to the U.S., or employee or contractor to the Department.

Sensitive PII includes but is not limited to the information pictured here, which includes Social Security Numbers, driver’s license numbers, Alien Registration numbers, financial or medical records, biometrics, or a criminal history.  This data requires stricter handling guidelines because of the increased risk to an individual if the data are compromised.

Even though the definition of personally identifiable information differs from state to state, and the states use different terminology to define the data that triggers reporting obligations, personally identifiable information in general is information that does, or can be used to, identify, locate or contact an individual, alone or when combined with other personal or identifying information and is usually information known to create a significant risk of identity theft, fraud or other harm if compromised. When considering the differing definitions in the U.S. you can usually expect personally identifiable information that triggers a breach reporting requirement to include a person’s first name or first initial and last name, together with one or more of the following:

Identification Numbers such as a –

• Social Security Number,
• Passport Number,
• Driver’s License Number,
• State Non-Driver’s Identification Card Number, or
• Other government-issued ID number;

Account Numbers such as a –

• Financial account number,
• Credit card number, or
• Debit card number
• (sometimes requiring the account number be disclosed in conjunction with a security code, access code, or password that permits access to the account)

Personal Characteristics / Biometrics, including

• photographic images,
• fingerprints,
• iris scans,
• handwriting, or
• other unique characteristics;

Medical information or medical history