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Personally identifiable information is a legal term for any information that can potentially be tied back to a specific person. Common examples include:Name | Social insurance number | IP addresses | Serial numbers | Registration numbers | Login ids | Membership identifiers | Photographs | Biometric records | Telephone numbers | Address | Device information | Combinations of data | Any other information that can be tied back to a person |
The concept of personally identifiable information is commonly used to define privacy rights. In many cases, organizations comply with privacy laws by processes such as removing identifiers or data obfuscation. In some cases, such information can be re-identified using data analysis techniques.
Protection of personally identifiable information is important to guaranteeing individual rights such as freedom of expression and movement. As with most legal terms, it is interpreted by the courts in each jurisdiction and has no universally excepted definition. The concept tends to have a large number of grey areas such as whether a "34 year old white male who lives in Chicago, works at a coffee shop and drives a red Honda civic" is identifiable.
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Type | | Definition | Information that can be tied back to a person. | Value | A legal term used to define privacy laws and regulations. | Related Concepts | |
Technology Ethics
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