Intelligent Information Management Vol. In this paper, actual personal identifiable information PII texts are analyzed to capture different types of PII sensitivities. This paper experiments with a theoretical analysis of PII sensitivity, defines its scope, and puts forward possible methodologies of gradation.
A technique is proposed that can be used to develop a classification scheme of personal information depending on types of PII. Some PII expresses relationships among persons, some specifies aspects and features of a person, and some describes relationships with nonhuman objects. The results also produce a visual map of the privacy sphere that can be used in approximating the sensitivity of different territories of privacy-related text. Personally identifiable information PII is one of the most central concepts in information privacy regulation.
The scope of privacy laws typically turns on whether PII is involved. The basic assumption behind the applicable laws is that if PII is not involved, then there can be no privacy harm. Privacy laws in their various forms typically prohibit unconstrained handling of PII, though they do not recognize sensitive versus non-sensitive PII [4]. Other scholars dispute this view [6]. Simply, de-anonymization succeeds only because of failure of an anonymization technique to remove all identities embedded in the records.
Not all PII is sensitive information see Figure 1. There is a point that must be exceeded to begin to consider PII sensitive. This may indicate that PII sensitivity is an evolving notion that needs continuous evaluation.
On the other hand, many Privacy-Enhancing Technologies PETs are being devised to help individuals protect their privacy [7], indicating the need for this notion. In data protection law, the principle of sensitivity holds that the processing of certain types of data should be subject to more stringent controls than other personal data [9].
