With the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) rules out every enterprise is talking about personally identifiable information (PII) data and taking measures to safeguard the same to comply with the DPDP rules. However, before we even think about protecting our customers’ personally identifiable information (PII), let’s first try to understand what is PII, and try to understand some crucial examples of PII that will help you choose the best DPDP compliance platform for your enterprise.
What is PII (Personally Identifiable Information)?
Personally identifiable information (PII) is any data that can be used for the identification of an individual. Every information that is linked directly or indirectly to that person is considered PII. Some examples of PII data can be government-issued ID numbers, phone numbers, email addresses, and bank account numbers.
Many enterprises today not just collect and process PII data but also store it for various marketing and sales activities. With the DPDP rules in place, focusing on data minimisation, there is going to be a significant impact on the PII data. This privacy and compliance law has been rolled out keeping in mind the attacks and identity theft that victims have to suffer because of leaked or breached data. In addition to that, the collection of PII also sometimes undermines the privacy of individuals since there is a lack of visibility as to what happens to their personal information. For situations like these, it’s important to limit the collection whenever possible and protect the PII data.
What is the definition of PII data as per the National Institute of Security Technology?
There is no one definition of PII, although it is referenced across various official sources. The National Institute of Security Technology (NIST) has one of the most referenced definitions of PII: “Any information about a person that is maintained by an agency, that includes (1) every information required to trace or differentiate the identity of an individual, such as data and place of birth, maiden name of mother, name, biometric records or government issued numbers; and (2) every information linked to an individual including their employment, financial, medical and education information.
Also Read : How ISO 27701 and GDPR Shape Privacy Governance in India
What are the two main types of PII?
There are two main types of PII: information that helps in direct identification of the person, and information that others use for indirect identification. Here is the NIST definition of PII that helps to distinguish between these two types of information:
- The information that directly identifies a person, such as their full name, physical address, and government-backed numbers, is an example of PII data that is direct in nature.
- Linkable or linked information does not directly help in the identification of the person but can help in indirect identification, for example, when combined with a different piece of information.
An example of this type of PII data can be, suppose, Ram lives in Ayodhya Apartment, Thane, Mumbai 400072. The first name “Ram” is not enough to identify the person, because this name is shared by millions of people in India. But when this information is combined with his address of Ayodhya Apartment, Thane, Mumbai, it is more likely to identify the specified person.
This concept also appears in other definitions of PII. The main concept driven by every definition of PII is to protect all information linked directly or indirectly to an individual.
Also Read : Also Read: The DPDP Compliance Checklist (2025): Step-by-Step Guide for Indian Businesses
Is PII the same as ‘personal data’ or ‘personal information’?
Well, the underlying concept behind all these terms is similar: every information connected to a specific person will be considered ‘personal’. However, every data privacy regulation has a different term for the data that is used to identify someone. The term PII is widely used across privacy and data regulations, such as DPDP, while the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) uses ‘personal data’ while the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) uses ‘personal information’. Enterprises must carefully review the descriptions of the legislation that applies to them.
Also Read : DPDP vs GDPR A Complete Guide for Indian Businesses
Why is Personally Identifiable Information (PII) an important concept for privacy?
Privacy refers to the capability of an individual to determine to what extent information about them can be shared with others. To protect the privacy of the person, the individual must know the party that is collecting their PII and what’s the exact purpose for the same.
In order to protect the PII data of individuals and safeguard their privacy, enterprises must know what PII data they have and how that can be kept secure, and to what extent it can be used. And this is exactly what Privy, India’s first full-stack DPDP compliance and privacy governance platform, is solving for.
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Get in touch with us at shivani@idfy.com to take control over your data with India’s most trusted DPDP compliance platform. We will keep you updated with the latest updates pertaining to the DPDP rules and how it's going to impact your business. Stay glued to this space for more information on data, privacy, compliance, and all things DPDP.