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NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 · PT-2

Authority to Process Personally Identifiable Information

US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) · cited in 129 of our lessons

Explanation

What it asks for. The organisation must determine and document the authority that permits it to process personally identifiable information, and restrict processing to what that authority allows.

In practice. For European organisations this closely mirrors identifying a lawful basis under GDPR Article 6, and Article 9 conditions for special categories. Good practice is a record of processing activities that states the legal basis for each purpose, reviewed by privacy or legal staff, and controls that stop processing outside that scope. Auditors expect the record, data protection impact assessments where needed and evidence that new processing is reviewed before launch.

Common gaps. Common gaps are processing that has grown beyond its documented basis and records that are not kept up to date. New tools and AI features are often introduced without checking the basis for processing.

Open SP 800-53 at NIST
The official text
a. Determine and document the [Assignment: organization-defined authority] that permits the [Assignment: organization-defined processing] of personally identifiable information; and b. Restrict the [Assignment: organization-defined processing] of personally identifiable information to only that which is authorized. Discussion: The processing of personally identifiable information is an operation or set of operations that the information system or organization performs with respect to personally identifiable information across the information life cycle. Processing includes but is not limited to creation, collection, use, processing, storage, maintenance, dissemination, disclosure, and disposal. Processing operations also include logging, generation, and transformation, as well as analysis techniques, such as data mining. Organizations may be subject to laws, executive orders, directives, regulations, or policies that establish the organization’s authority and thereby limit certain types of processing of personally identifiable information or establish other requirements related to the processing. Organizational personnel consult with the senior agency official for privacy and legal counsel regarding such authority, particularly if the organization is subject to multiple jurisdictions or sources of authority. For organizations whose processing is not determined according to legal authorities, the organization’s policies and determinations govern how they process personally identifiable information. While processing of personally identifiable information may be legally permissible, privacy risks may still arise. Privacy risk assessments can identify the privacy risks associated with the authorized processing of personally identifiable information and support solutions to manage such risks. Organizations consider applicable requirements and organizational policies to determine how to document this authority. For federal agencies, the authority to process personally identifiable information is documented in privacy policies and notices, system of records notices, privacy impact assessments, [PRIVACT](#18e71fec-c6fd-475a-925a-5d8495cf8455) statements, computer matching agreements and notices, contracts, information sharing agreements, memoranda of understanding, and other documentation. Organizations take steps to ensure that personally identifiable information is only processed for authorized purposes, including training organizational personnel on the authorized processing of personally identifiable information and monitoring and auditing organizational use of personally identifiable information.

From NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, a work of the US government in the public domain.

Lessons that cite it

Real incidents where this item mattered: the latest 12 of 129.