What is PII and Why Should You Care?

What is PII?

Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is any data that can identify a specific individual. This includes email addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, and more.

Why it matters

Under GDPR, companies can face fines of up to 4% of annual revenue for mishandling PII. CCPA imposes penalties of $7,500 per intentional violation.

In 2025 alone, data protection authorities issued over $2.1 billion in fines globally. The risk is real.

Common types of PII

• Email addresses
• Phone numbers
• Social Security Numbers (SSN)
• Credit card numbers
• IP addresses
• Dates of birth
• Passport numbers
• Bank account numbers (IBAN)

How PrivaSift helps

PrivaSift automatically scans your CSV, JSON, and text files to detect PII. Upload a file and get a compliance report in seconds.

• Detects 8+ types of PII
• Severity ratings from Critical to Low
• Actionable GDPR/CCPA recommendations
• Data never stored — scanned in memory only
• Free tier: 3 scans per day