PII covers information that identifies people, making its collection, storage, and disclosure central to privacy protection and breach response.
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Background for this topic.
PII (personally identifiable information) is information that identifies a person directly or can do so when combined with other data. Direct identifiers include names, government identification numbers, passport details, and email addresses; indirect identifiers can include birth dates, precise location, or unique account attributes. The term is used broadly in security, but its legal scope varies: laws and regulations may use different definitions, such as “personal data” under the GDPR or protected health information under HIPAA.
PII is a high-value target because unauthorized access or disclosure can enable identity fraud, targeted phishing, or privacy harm. It may be exposed through compromised applications, cloud storage, logs, endpoints, or third parties. Practitioners should inventory and classify it, collect and retain only what is needed, restrict access, and protect it with encryption or tokenization where appropriate. Monitoring and tested procedures for investigating exposure are important, while retention, deletion, and notification duties depend on the applicable jurisdiction and sector.
The ICO blamed the Police Service of Northern Ireland for procedural failings that exposed the personal data of 9843 personnel, putting police officers at risk
Managing the endless stream of cookie banners leaves little energy for anything else Fewer than one in five Brits report being happy with the way their personal data is handled by big tech companies, yet the furthest many will go is to reject optional cookies on the web.…
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a $31.5 million settlement with T-Mobile over multiple data breaches that compromised the personal information of millions of U.S. consumers. [...]