What is PII? A guide for HR and benefits leaders

Every employee benefits program relies on personal data.

From insurance policies and pension plans to vendor agreements and enrollment systems, organizations collect and manage large volumes of information about employees and their families. Within that information sits one of the most sensitive data categories any organization handles: personally identifiable information, commonly known as PII.

Understanding what PII is is important, but for HR and benefits leaders, the bigger challenge lies elsewhere.

They need to know:

• Where personal data exists across benefits programs
• Which vendors and systems hold that data
• How it is governed and protected over time
  
  

In many organizations, that visibility simply doesn’t exist.

This guide explains what PII information is, why it matters for benefits programs, and how organizations can manage it more effectively.