Examples
The following data, often used for the express purpose of distinguishing individual identity, clearly class as PII under the definition used by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (described in detail below):
- Full name (if not common)
- Email address (if private from an association/club membership, etc.)
- National identification number
- IP address (in some cases)
- Vehicle registration plate number
- Driver's license number
- Face, fingerprints, or handwriting
- Credit card numbers
- Digital identity
- Date of birth
- Birthplace
- Genetic information
The following are less often used to distinguish individual identity, because they are traits shared by many people. However, they are potentially PII, because they may be combined with other personal information to identify an individual.
- First or last name, if common
- Country, state, or city of residence
- Age, especially if non-specific
- Gender or race
- Name of the school they attend or workplace
- Grades, salary, or job position
- Criminal record
When a person wishes to remain anonymous, descriptions of them will often employ several of the above, such as "a 34-year-old white male who works at Target". Note that information can still be private, in the sense that a person may not wish for it to become publicly known, without being personally identifiable. Moreover, sometimes multiple pieces of information, none sufficient by itself to uniquely identify an individual, may uniquely identify a person when combined; this is one reason that multiple pieces of evidence are usually presented at criminal trials. It has been shown that, in 1990, 87% of the population of the United States could be uniquely identified by gender, ZIP code, and full date of birth.
In hacker and Internet slang, the practice of finding and releasing such information is called "doxing" or "doxxing". It is sometimes used to deter collaboration with law enforcement. On occasion, the doxing can trigger an arrest, particularly if law enforcement agencies suspect that the "doxed" individual may panic and disappear.
Read more about this topic: Personal Information
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