Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is any information that can be used, on its own or combined with other details, to identify you as an individual. Examples include:
- Your full name
- Date of birth
- Email address
- Phone number
- Driver’s license or passport number
- Social Security number
- Vehicle registration number
- Biometric data (such as facial, retina, or fingerprint scans)
- Plus other types, like medical, employment, or financial records
Keep in mind, there are many other forms PII can take beyond this list.
Why does PII matter?
Your PII forms your digital identity. If it ends up in the wrong hands: through data breaches, data brokers, or even public social media. Bad actors can use it for fraud or identity theft. Even a few pieces of PII can be enough for someone to misuse your identity.
Identity Theft is Real
Identity theft is a growing threat, and the numbers show just how common it has become.
- In 2020, there were 1.4 million cases of reported identity theft in the US, a 53 percent increase over 2019.
- Every year, an estimated 9 million Americans have their identities stolen.
- Losses due to identity theft reached $3.3 billion in 2020.
- Every two seconds, someone becomes a victim.
Most often, thieves piece together bits of PII from data brokers or the dark web to create a full identity. Even “anonymized” records can sometimes be combined and traced back to you.
How is my PII used?
Not every use of PII is malicious. Marketers often use general information about you, such as your email, age range, or browsing habits, to show targeted ads.
However, there are negative implications with data profiles like this being created. Medical records have been sold to data brokers since the introduction of HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) in 1966 using “anonymized data” (health records with unique identifiers removed like name, social security number, or address).
Even though the data is mostly “anonymized”, when cross-referenced against other databases, it can be used to build a health record about you, in-turn destroying the data’s anonymity.
These kinds of profiles open the doors to prejudice from health insurance providers or even potential employers – imagine a world where you’re denied a job or health insurance because you did a Google search for “cancer symptoms”.
How can I protect my PII?
It may seem impossible to avoid sharing your personal details, but there are steps you can take:
- Be cautious about what you share online and on social media
- Remove your personal information from data broker websites, or use DeleteMe to help
- Use masked email addresses and masked credit cards for new services
- Use a VPN to keep your browsing private
- Ask companies to delete your information if you do not need or use their services
The less PII you share, the safer you are. Whenever you need help keeping your information out of the wrong hands, DeleteMe is here to support you.
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