The next time you thoughtlessly enter your name, date of birth, or phone number into one of your smart devices, stop for a moment and ask yourself if you really know where that information is going after clicking Send. Which websites collect your information and link it to you via PII? Without a comprehensive and unified legal system that protects the PII of individuals across the country, the response could vary greatly from one state of origin to another. PII is becoming more valuable, and many people are increasingly concerned about the use of their PII, whether for legitimate commercial use by the companies collecting them or illegal use by cybercriminals who seem to have too easy to find. This has led to a new era of legislation to block PII and restrict its use. However, the United States is not entirely exempt from federal regulations in this area. In the age of technology, the definition of PII continues to expand and can also include information such as IP addresses, MAC addresses, device identifiers, cookies, and even GPS location data. PII does not include publicly available information that is legally available from federal, state, or local records. However, the CCPA only protects California residents, with the vast majority of states lagging far behind when it comes to privacy legislation. [24] While other states have recently passed or are actively considering new laws, each state adopts its own definition of PII, what constitutes the sale of PII, and what level of protection should be afforded to the data. [25] However, breach of trust and privacy can occur when information that an individual believes to be protected is disclosed to others or sold for profit. To prevent this breach of trust and security, various laws have been introduced at the state and federal levels to regulate the sharing and sale of PII, but these laws are far from uniform. [3] Some states, such as California, have passed laws that completely protect their citizens, while the majority of states lag behind, leaving their residents relatively unattended. [4] But when the law holds companies accountable for protecting personal data, it raises an important question: what counts as PII? The European Union`s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) went into effect in 2016 and has been a major upheaval in the world of PII.
It established strict rules on what companies doing business in the EU or with EU citizens can do with PII, and required companies to take appropriate precautions to protect this data from hackers. Companies must also allow EU citizens to delete their data on request as part of the so-called right to be forgotten. The list of data protected by the GDRP is also quite broad and includes: The Department of Energy has a definition of what it calls high-risk PII that is relevant here: “PII that, if lost, compromised, or disclosed without authorization, may result in significant harm, embarrassment, inconvenience, or injustice to any person.” While this definition can be frustrating for IT professionals looking for a list of specific types of information to protect, it`s probably good policy to view PII in these terms to fully protect consumers from harm. PII protection is obviously an important and ever-evolving issue, and the details of what you are legally required to do in this area depend on the regulatory framework in which your business operates. The NIST guide linked above is actually a good place to start if you want to explore an IPI protection framework. However, if you want a very simple checklist to give you an idea of the scale of the problem, the compliance checklist from data security provider Nightfall is a good place to start. They advise you: But in a way, trying to identify all possible specific types of PII is a process that misses the point. More and more cybersecurity professionals and regulators are thinking about personal information, what they can do if they are abused, rather than what they actually are. We`ve already seen some of this in the GSA definition above: PII is, to be somewhat tautological, any information that can be used to identify a person, and sometimes you have to look at that information in a broader context where other information like this is also circulating. For example: Is your mother`s maiden name PII? Well, probably not. But if a hacker has your mother`s maiden name and email address and knows which bank you`re using, it could be a problem because it`s a common security question used to reset passwords. The CCPA provides various protections for California residents` data, including requiring consumers to have the right to opt out of selling their PII.
[17] Companies covered by this law must help consumers exercise their right to opt out by including a “Do Not Sell My Personal Data” link in a “clear and visible” place. [18] The CCPA also prevents firms from discriminating against customers who choose not to share PII or exercise their rights under the law. [19] Under California law, consumers have both the right to know what information is being collected and the right to delete that information upon request. [20] Commercial or financial information is considered confidential if disclosure of competitive position is likely to cause significant harm to the person from whom it was obtained. Examples of IIFs include financial information provided in response to requests for census data, business plans and marketing data provided to participate in trade development activities, business and financial information collected through export enforcement activities, proprietary information provided in support of a grant application or as part of a federal procurement action; Financial documents collected as part of an investigation. Adequate protection of personally identifiable information (PII) and company identifiable information (BII). A number of data are generally considered PII. Some of the most obvious are: Contractors must ensure that their contract employees are aware of their responsibilities regarding the protection of personal information at the Ministry of Labor.
In addition, if contract employees become aware of a theft or loss of PII, they must immediately notify their DOL contract manager. In the event that their DOL contract manager is unavailable, they must immediately report the theft or loss to the DOL Computer Security Incident Response Capability (CSIRC) team in dolcsirc@dol.gov. [5] Ieuan Jolly, US Privacy and Data Security Law: Overview, Thomson Reuters Practical Law 1.next.westlaw.com/6-501-4555?isplcus=true&transitionType=Default&contextData=%28sc.Default%29 (last accessed 4 September 2020). [17] California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), California State Department of Justice, Office of the Attorney General, oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa (last accessed September 4, 2020). (B) buy, sell or share data on 50,000 or more consumers or devices each year; or Chief Privacy Officer (CPO) and BOU CIRT Reporting Offices In 2019, Maine L.D. 946, which gave consumers the right to restrict the use of their PII and prevented companies from discriminating against those who invoked this control. [26] In both areas, L.D. 946 mirrors the CCPA, but Maine`s recent legislation differs from California`s in several key areas, including a narrower definition of personal information and the elimination of a private right of action. [27] Even without these provisions, Maine is well ahead of the vast majority of states that have no laws governing the use and sale of PII.
[28] These inconsistencies lead to a very different legal landscape that lacks predictability or a coherent structure. [29] Sensitive PII is PII that, if lost, compromised or disclosed without authorization, may cause harm, embarrassment, inconvenience or injustice to anyone. The following types of personal information are considered sensitive when associated with an individual: social security number (including short form), place of birth, date of birth, mother`s maiden name, biometric information, medical information (excluding brief notices of absence from work), personal financial information, credit card or acquisition card account numbers, passport numbers, potentially sensitive employment information (p. e.g., performance evaluations, discipline, and background investigation results), criminal record, and any information that may stigmatize or harm an individual.