PII
Personally Identifiable Information
Information that can identify a person directly or when combined with other data.
Plain English
Data that can point to a specific individual and therefore needs careful handling.
In context
PII includes obvious identifiers and combinations of attributes whose sensitivity depends on context jurisdiction access and possible harm.
Example
“The export was blocked because it included customer email addresses and other PII.”
When you'll hear this
- data design
- security review
- incident response
Common misunderstanding
PII is not limited to names and government identifiers and the exact legal definition varies by jurisdiction.
Also known as
personally identifiable informationpersonal data
Commonly used by
Related terms
Updated: 2026-08-27
