Personal Identifiable Information (PII)

Return to Glossary

Personal Identifiable Information (PII) as defined in OMB Memorandum M-07-1616 refers to information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, either alone or when combined with other personal or identifying information that is linked or linkable to a specific individual. The definition of PII is not anchored to any single category of information or technology. Rather, it requires a case-by-case assessment of the specific risk that an individual can be identified. In performing this assessment, it is important for an agency to recognize that non-PII can become PII whenever additional information is made publicly available - in any medium and from any source - that, when combined with other available information, could be used to identify an individual.

Source: https://www.gsa.gov/reference/gsa-privacy-program/rules-and-policies-protecting-pii-privacy-act