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Personal Identifiable Information in Today’s Age

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Personal Identifiable Information in Today’s Age

Problem Statement
Personal Identifiable Information (PII) is sensitive data of a person’s identity. If mishandled, this information can result in identity theft. There have been millions of consumers who have had their identity compromised from misuse or lost PII. To adequately protect PII, one must understand what it is. PII is information that can distinguish or trace a person identity. A few examples such as, a person’s Social Security number, age, home and office phone numbers are forms of PII. While the Social Security card is a distinctive document linking a person’s name and Social Security number, when associated with other forms of PII, as previously mentioned, it creates a high risk to the individual and eventually can lead to identity theft (Department of Defense, 2012). To assist consumers with identity theft government officials have established a Task Force and initiated several Acts to protect consumers. End

Personal Identifiable Information in Today’s Age
Information in today’s age is becoming easily accessible to many people. The Internet is just one resource that can provide information about a person. Internet search engines, such as Google provide a wealth of information, if used properly about a person. It is vital for the public and private sector to be aware and protect critical information from unwanted hands, if used illegally can cause damage to person’s identity. Besides search engines, social networks are becoming popular sites for thieves to gather information on a person. Individuals on social sites are unaware of the information being disclosed. This information can be used to disclose a person’s identity and used for other purposes, mostly for illegal acts. To protect individuals from unwarranted use of PII government agencies have imposed Acts and Laws to protect consumers.
Agency Roles and Responsibilities
The mandates that protect individuals sensitive information comes from legal and Federal guidance. The first such legislation protecting PII was the Privacy Act of 1974. This act was established over concerns how computer databases might impact an individual’s privacy rights. The Act also details what, how, or when information is disclosed. Federal, State and Local agencies shall only collect the necessary information to conduct its business and properly protect the information from unwanted intrusion (Department of Justice, 2003).
The United States Department of Commerce (DOC) with the assistance from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) created Special Publication (SP) 800-122. SP 800-122 establishes guidelines for federal agencies that are responsible for protecting the PII that resides on their databases. Agencies should take careful consideration of the information handled and establish safeguard measures ( National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2010). Some examples an organization should enforce; * Create policies and procedures for protecting PII. * Conduct appropriate employee training to reduce disclosing PII. * Develop an incident response plan to handle breaches of PII. * Collection and retention of PII that is necessary to accomplish business purpose and mission.
Private and Public Roles and Responsibilities
Private and public sectors each are responsible to protect sensitive information that relates to an individual. Individuals are also responsible to protecting their information to prevent any outside invasion of privacy. Identity thieves’ have steadily increased over the years using PII that has been stolen.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that 9 million identities are stolen each year from misuse of PII. Identity thieves have taken advantage of stolen PII to bilk the economy in billions of dollars, place financial and emotional hardship on the individual and exhausted law enforcement resources. To remedy identify theft, George Bush established the Task Force Identity Theft to provide a solution to the situation.
The Task Force was responsible for developing policy and procedures to deter, prevent, prosecute and resolve identity theft (Federal Trade Commission, 2007). To successfully deter identity thieves from attaining PII, the Task Force developed a strategic plan that revolves around the life cycle of an identity thief. The three stages of the life cycle identified in the Strategic Plan which must be confronted. 1. Identity thieves attempt to acquire personal information, 2. The thief misuses the information acquired. 3. Identity theft has completed the crime and enjoys the benefits.
Although PII is each and everyone’s responsibility to protect, there are regulations set in place to protect consumers from misuse of their information. Conclusion
Personal Identifiable Information is vital information that reveals a person’s identity. This information, if misused or mishandled can result in financial and emotional burden on an individual. The private and public sector each is responsible to protecting information identifying a person, which can be used for financial gain from a thief. Laws have been incorporated that hold government agencies responsible and accountable for the information they host on organizations databases. The government also established a Task Force to help resolve identity theft. They are charged with deterring, preventing, and prosecuting these individuals who quarry information for their financial benefit. Identity theft is an increasing crime that has an impact on the economy as well as personal and emotional stress on the individuals who has been compromised. It is each person’s responsibility to be aware and cognizant of the information provided and to be aware of protecting such vital information.

References:
Federal Trade Commission. (2007, Apr). Identity Theft is a Crime Retrieved from website http://www.idtheft.gov/reports/StrategicPlan.pdf
Department of Defense. (n.d). Personal Identifiable Information. Retrieved from DoD website http://iase.disa.mil/eta/pii/pii_module/pii_module/index.html
Department of Justice. (2003, Jun). Privacy Act 1974 Retrieved from Department of Justice website http://www.justice.gov/opcl/privacyact1974.htm
Department of Commerce. (2010, Apr). Guide to Protecting the Confidentiality of Personal Identifiable Information (PII) Retrieved from website http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/PubsSPs.html

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