Personally identifiable information is any information that can identify a specific person, alone or combined with other data: names, emails, phone numbers, account numbers, faces, voices and many indirect details. The GDPR and US state laws define the related terms "personal data" and "personal information" more broadly still.
Why it matters when licensing company data
Company records carry PII in obvious fields (customer names) and less obvious ones (signatures, screenshots, call audio, ticket text). A licensable dataset documents where PII appears, how it was removed or transformed, and what the licensee may not do, such as attempting re-identification.
See what to check before selling company data and GDPR and CCPA rules for data licensing.
Source
NIST SP 800-122: Guide to Protecting the Confidentiality of PII. Definition reviewed November 7, 2026 by Origin Data Partners.