Are You Having A Technology Emergency?

JS Business Solutions Blog

JS Business Solutions has been serving the Attleboro area since 2012, providing IT Support such as technical helpdesk support, computer support, and consulting to small and medium-sized businesses.

What is Personally Identifiable Information?

What is Personally Identifiable Information?

Personally identifiable information—or PII—is critically important data for individuals and businesses, not only because operations rely on many of these data points but there are also significant circumstances for losing it. Of course, to properly protect PII, you need to know what the umbrella term of PII includes.

What Counts as PII?

According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s (NIST) Computer Security Resource Center (CSRC) PII includes:

“Any representation of information that permits the identity of an individual to whom the information applies to be reasonably inferred by either direct or indirect means.”

So, let’s say your business had collected data on a user named James Jones. We’ll run through a few examples of what would qualify as James Jones’ PII.

Examining Personally Identifiable Information

In the case of James Jones, your business would be on the hook for losing his data if that data included the following:

  • His name
  • His address
  • His phone number
  • His personal identification numbers
  • His information that identifies his property
  • His personal features
  • His asset information

Other Information Can Be Combined to Create PII

Even if you’ve secured all of James Jones’ above information, you may not be off the hook. More data can be identified as PII if combined with other forms, like the following:

  • His date and place of birth
  • His race
  • His religion
  • His weight
  • His activities
  • His geographic location
  • His employment history
  • His medical data
  • His educational history
  • His financial data
  • His family information

So, if someone were to collect James Jones’ employment history and family information, they now have enough to classify as PII.

PII is Critical to Protect… Are You Prepared?

If not, reach out to JS Business Solutions! We can help assess your business’ cybersecurity and data handling habits… and, more importantly, help you correct any issues we find. Give us a call at (781) 715-1900 to get started.

You Have to Get Rid of Your Digital Waste
What Benefits Does a Four-Day Workweek Bring Busin...
 

Comments

No comments made yet. Be the first to submit a comment
Guest
Already Registered? Login Here
Guest
Tuesday, December 03 2024

Captcha Image

Latest Blog

While there are plenty of cybersecurity protections for your business’ technology, it is just as critical that you and your team are prepared to stay as secure as possible. To accomplish this, we wanted to share a collection of cybersecurit...

Latest News & Events

JS Business Solutions is proud to announce the launch of our new website at http://www.jsbusinesssolutions.com. The goal of the new website is to make it easier for our existing clients to submit and manage support requests, and provide more information about our ser...

Contact Us

Learn more about what JS Business Solutions can do for your business.

Call Us Today
Call us today
(781) 715-1900

12 Pratt Street
Suite 103

Mansfield, Massachusetts 02048

TOP