THREATNOIR
Subscribe
NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 · PT-7

Specific Categories of Personally Identifiable Information

US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) · cited in 8 of our lessons

Explanation

What it asks for. The organisation must apply defined processing conditions to specific categories of personally identifiable information, such as particularly sensitive types.

In practice. In NIST this covers categories such as Social Security numbers and First Amendment information. For European readers the closest equivalent is the stricter treatment of special category data and criminal offence data under GDPR Articles 9 and 10. Good practice is identifying where such data is held, limiting access, applying stronger protection and documenting the conditions that permit processing. Auditors look for data mapping, access restrictions and documented justifications.

Common gaps. Sensitive categories are often held in places nobody mapped, such as free-text fields and email. Access to these data sets is frequently broader than needed.

Open SP 800-53 at NIST
The official text
Apply [Assignment: organization-defined processing conditions] for specific categories of personally identifiable information. Discussion: Organizations apply any conditions or protections that may be necessary for specific categories of personally identifiable information. These conditions may be required by laws, executive orders, directives, regulations, policies, standards, or guidelines. The requirements may also come from the results of privacy risk assessments that factor in contextual changes that may result in an organizational determination that a particular category of personally identifiable information is particularly sensitive or raises particular privacy risks. Organizations consult with the senior agency official for privacy and legal counsel regarding any protections that may be necessary.

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.