Personally Identifiable Information

Personally identifiable information (PII) is any data that could potentially identify a specific individual. Data that can be used to distinguish one person from another or can be used for de-anonymizing anonymous data is also considered PII.

A person's name combined with other specific data (such as a Social Security number, driver's license number, account name, telephone number, or email address) is always considered PII. Other forms of PII may include:

  • Bank account number
  • Credit card number
  • Date of birth
  • Fingerprints
  • Health records (including medical history, mental health records, insurance claims, and test results)

Increasingly, the combination of two or more pieces of non-PII information may also be considered PII. For example, a username together with a password could be classified as PII.