Security principles for protecting the most sensitive personal information in datasets
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Principle 1. Understand what data you have and the risks to it
Considerations for technical implementation
1. Identify your SPI and examine the wider data for inferred SPI
Organisations typically hold large amounts of personal data in their datasets and it's possible for people querying the data to get access to more information than they need, whether they intend it or not. We recommend you:
- identify the SPI you hold
- determine the less obvious SPI which could be deduced or inferred from having access to the full dataset
Example of a data holding which infers SPI, and the associated risks
An organisation holds data about the academic qualifications and home addresses of several individuals with PhDs. Access to this data allows an individual to ascertain that there is a higher proportion of individuals with PhDs living close to a geographically isolated rocket research company. That individual tips this information to a foreign nation with espionage interests which subsequently attempts unauthorised access into the organisation’s network. They successfully obtain the names and home addresses of all the people with PhDs which increases the risk not only to the individuals themselves but any other people resident at their addresses. It may also negatively impact the operation of the rocket research company.
2. Risks when receiving data from other parties
When receiving data from other parties, you should assess what further risks may arise as as result.