Failing to handle personally identifiable information (PII) securely could lead to costly fines and a loss of customer trust in your business. According to IBM, the average cost of a data breach exposing personal information is $4.45 million.
The solution to avoiding such hefty costs begins by understanding what constitutes personally identifiable information and ensuring you adequately protect sensitive customer details.
Read on to learn more about what is considered PII, and discover the PII best practices that will help your business securely manage customer data, stay compliant with privacy regulations, and maintain customer trust in your brand.
What Is PII?
Personally identifiable information (PII) refers to any data that potentially enables the identification of a specific individual. This includes details like full names, government IDs, and email addresses. However, PII also involves some less obvious data points. Let’s take a closer look at some examples of PII:
- Birthdates: When combined with other elements, a person's date of birth allows potential identification.
- Physical addresses: Address records in the wrong hands could reveal where someone lives.
- Biometric records: Data points like fingerprints, facial scans, and retina images are highly sensitive.
- IP addresses: With specific tools, a device's IP address might help pinpoint its user.
- Vehicle registration/license plate numbers: In some cases, license details can provide clues to a person's identity.
- Financial information: Given their privacy implications, sensitive financial details like credit cards, bank accounts, and investment portfolios demand the highest security.
- Medical records: Health data is regulated due to confidentiality. Your systems must offer stringent safeguards for any medical details.
- Employment information: Job specifics, reviews, and pay data contribute to an individual's PII profile.
- Education records: Transcripts, degrees, and coursework similarly need to be safeguarded appropriately.
PII vs. Personal Data
As explained above, PII refers specifically to data that could be used to identify an individual directly. This includes direct identifiers like names and contact details and indirect data such as birth dates and job histories.
Personal data is a broader term than PII. It includes other factual or subjective information about an individual - even if it's not directly identifying. For example, personal data your business may collect could be:
- Internet browsing histories and online search queries.
- Personal preferences, interests, hobbies, and pastimes.
- Physical characteristics like height, weight, hair, and eye color.
- Employment records detailing job roles and performance metrics.
- Education transcripts, coursework details, and qualifications attained.
- Loan or credit payment histories showing repayment patterns over time.
Knowing this distinction ensures that only necessary information is requested from customers and high-sensitivity details are securely managed.
Sensitive vs. Non-Sensitive PII
Not all personally identifiable information carries the same level of risk. Some types of PII pose less of a risk of identity theft, if exposed.
Sensitive PII
This type of PII needs strict security controls to protect your customers and business. Examples include:
- Government ID numbers like Social Security, passport, or driver's license
- Financial account details such as credit card or bank account numbers
- Medical records
- Biometric data like fingerprints or facial recognition data
- Racial, ethnic, or sexual orientation information
Sensitive PII requires stricter security controls since exposure increases the risk of identity theft, financial fraud, and other serious threats for your customers. Due to the severity of potential harm, there are also typically higher penalties if this data is not adequately safeguarded.
Non-Sensitive PII
This category of PII encompasses personal details about customers that do not directly pose risks of identity theft or financial fraud if exposed. However, it is still essential to protect this information to maintain customer privacy and trust. Examples include:
- A customer's given name
- Phone number
- Email address
- Physical home or work address
- Employment details like position or company
- Education History
While exposing this data may not have direct financial consequences for customers, it could allow for targeted marketing or social engineering attacks against them. Keeping non-sensitive PII secure helps ensure your business retains customers' confidence that personal details are handled responsibly.
Examples of PII in Different Contexts
The types of PII collected can vary depending on your industry and the nature of your work. Understanding what customer data needs protection in your context is essential for compliance.
- Legal: Court documents and client files contain sensitive information such as names, contact information, and case details. Proper redaction is needed for public records.
- HR: Job applications include personal histories, while employee records contain compensation and benefits data.
- Healthcare: Medical professionals deal with highly sensitive health and insurance records and strict privacy protocols are a necessity.
- Financial services: Applications for services like loans and taxes involve financial account and income information.
- Government: Public records include citizen identification and participation in assistance programs.
Identifying the customer data involved in your work allows for informed security decisions that respect privacy obligations and builds trust with your customers.
What Are the Risks of PII Exposure?
If the PII under your care is not adequately protected, serious risks may result for your organization. Here are some of the main consequences when data is exposed:
- Data breaches/identity theft: Exposure could enable fraudsters to commit identity theft or financial fraud, potentially causing significant personal and financial distress.
- Regulatory fines and penalties: Strict data protection laws, such as GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA, enforce harsh penalties for failing to secure PII and report breaches appropriately. Non-compliance may damage your company financially.
- Loss of customer trust: When customers' data under your watch is mishandled or revealed, it severely damages confidence in your business's capability to care for their information responsibly. As a result, loyal customers and potential clients may turn to competitors.
- Civil lawsuits: Affected customers, employees, or other parties could file civil actions against your organization, seeking damages and costs from PII breaches under your watch.
- Damage to reputation: News of a data violation involving PII from your systems can inflict lasting reputational harm that is difficult to overcome, even after legal matters are resolved. A damaged reputation limits your ability to acquire and retain customers long-term.
How to Protect PII
Strong security means careful handling of PII from the beginning. Implementing robust safeguards at every stage helps ensure sensitive customer information remains safely in your care. Here are the PII best practices you should implement to protect the information:
Data Collection Limitation (Minimization)
Only collect the PII that is strictly necessary for your business functions. Limit extraneous data that increases security risks and compliance burdens if exposed. Regularly review data collections and remove unneeded customer information.
Data Encryption
Encrypt all PII to ensure data is coded when stored in your systems or backup files. Encryption should also be used when transmitting PII via email or other methods.
Access Controls
Implement strict access controls, so only employees directly assigned to a task can view particular PII elements. Regularly review access permissions and remove any no longer warranted by job functions.
Redaction of PII from Documents
Redaction means removing or obscuring PII from documentation before internal or external sharing. This helps ensure that sensitive customer data is not at risk of exposure, even if a security incident occurs. Your business can use automated redaction software to black out protected information while allowing authorized file sharing.
Secure Disposal
PII records no longer necessary for your business functions should be permanently destroyed. Your company should implement procedures for physically shredding paper documents containing PII or using secure digital erasure tools to make electronic files unrecoverable.
Employee Training
Providing ongoing security awareness training to your workforce helps ensure everyone understands the correct protocols for handling the PII entrusted to your business. Regular refresher courses help employees stay vigilant and can help identify and mitigate security issues that pose risks to customer information.
Using Redaction Software for PII Protection
All personally identifiable information requires safeguarding from unauthorized access. Protecting your customers' private details helps prevent repercussions such as fines or legal action.
Redactable’s automated AI-powered redaction solution can allow your business to meet compliance standards and elevate PII security. The software permanently obscures all instances of protected information within documents and files before sharing internally or externally.
Redactable offers the following advantages:
- Perfect accuracy in identifying all instances of personal data such as names, addresses, and financial information within text.
- Significant time and cost savings versus manual redaction by employees. The AI system can review large volumes of records quickly.
- Audit trails and compliance reports to demonstrate due diligence in protecting customer privacy.
- Permanent redactions ensure accidental exposure is impossible if files are unintentionally shared or accessed without authorization.
Learn more about how Redactable can streamline your business's PII protection protocols by signing up for a free trial today.
