PII (or personally identifiable information), is information that can be used to uniquely identify a person. In the wrong hands, PII can be used to victimize a person, via theft, stalking, harassment, and more.
Why Do I Care About PII?
As a Penn State employee, it is your responsibility to make sure this information (about yourself or others) does not fall into the wrong hands. If you have PII on your workstation, you risk exposing this information, putting individuals at risk for crime, and costing your department money.
What is the difference between having PII on my machine and having malware (viruses, spyware, etc.)?
PII is personal data. PII alone does not affect the functioning of your machine. Malware are applications that run without your knowledge. Malware affect your machine by doing things that you do not permit it to do, such as record what you are doing or share your data (including PII) with its creator.
Thanks to Tim Arnold, DLT, for suggesting this tip!
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