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.
Data watchdog reprimands police force for mixing up 2 people with same name and birthday with disastrous results The UK's Information Commissioner's Office has put the West Midlands Police (WMP) on the naughty step after the force was found to have repeatedly mixed up two people's personal data for years.…
The Golden Corral American restaurant chain disclosed a data breach after attackers behind an August cyberattack stole the personal information of over 180,000 people. [...]
The presidential move orders a variety of different departments and organizations to regulate personal data better and provide clear, high standards to prevent foreign access.
AI service Cutout.Pro has suffered a data breach exposing the personal information of 20 million members, including email addresses, hashed and salted passwords, IP addresses, and names. [...]
A new presidential executive order attempts to prevent the mass sales of personal data to countries like China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden has issued an Executive Order that prohibits the mass transfer of citizens' personal data to countries of concern
U.S. President Joe Biden has signed an executive order that aims to ban the bulk sale and transfer of Americans' private data to "countries of concern" such as China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela. [...]
New Order Tasks Department of Justice with Developing Data Transfer ProtectionsU.S. President Joe Biden is set to sign Wednesday an executive order aimed at preventing the large-scale transfer of Americans' sensitive personal data to countries including China. The order will set off a rulemaking process spearheaded by the Department of Justice.
Biden readies executive order targeting China, Russia, and pals US President Joe Biden is expected to sign an executive order today that aims to prevent the sale or transfer of Americans' sensitive personal information and government-related data to adversarial countries including China and Russia.…