Managing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) with DocuNECT

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Many organizations today manage, use, store and/or distribute documents that contain Personally Identifiable Information (PII). This is done internally for employees or, depending on their area of business, for customers, patients, residents and students. This digital economy relies heavily on the storage, access and transfer of data so putting in place policies and technology to manage this is becoming critical.

Document management adds a layer of complexity as the data is not only stored in databases (metadata), but also in the content of the documents. If your business model requires the distribution of documents then technology needs to be put in place to redact the data in the documents as well as encrypt the data in the database.

Examples of PII

The following list provides examples of PII data:

  • Name and other names used;
  • Social Security number, full and truncated;
  • Driver’s license and other government identification numbers;
  • Citizenship, legal status, gender, race/ethnicity;
  • Birth date, place of birth;
  • Home and personal cell telephone numbers;
  • Personal email address, mailing and home address;
  • Religious preference;
  • Security clearance;
  • Mother’s middle and maiden names;
  • Spouse information, marital status, child information, emergency contact information;
  • Biometrics;
  • Financial information, medical information, disability information;
  • Law enforcement information, employment information, educational information; and
  • Military records

DocuNECT provides a number of security features and functionality to manage the storage, access and distribution of PII data.

Encryption at Rest and in Transit

Data needs to be protected when it moves from server to user and also when it is stored. DocuNECT encrypts the data in transit and at rest. When you define metadata to store documents, you can encrypt and mask the data. For example, a credit card number can be displayed as * except for the last 4 digits.

Free-Form Auto-Redaction of PII in Documents

If you want to distribute documents the PII needs to be protected in the content of the document. DocuNECT has a powerful business rules engine that can identify and redact the PII so the documents can be safely distributed. This functionality is not based on x/y coordinates of data, but uses technology to identify the PII contextually using the content itself. Therefore, this functionality can be used for both structured and unstructured documents.

Document Distribution

DocuNECT can distribute the redacted documents in a number of format specifications, whether it be a defined folder structure or a third party business application.

Role-Based Access to Documents and Data

Access to the documents and data can be tightly controlled so only the right users have access to the right information.

Audit Trails and Reporting

Every document and data action is audited in the system, from user access to document actions. This allows the complete chain of custody to be stored to help with compliance.