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Privacy and Security of Personal Information Collected by Benefit Plans

By Marc Bussone
October 14, 2016

High profile cyberattacks and data breaches have become routine occurrences. Cyber threats are so pervasive that many privacy and security experts advise that responsible parties ' like fiduciaries of employee benefit plans ' should prepare for when a data breach occurs, not if . Data collected by employee benefit plans includes sensitive information that makes them a particularly attractive target for cybercrime. While the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), as amended by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH), sets forth requirements applicable to the security and privacy of protected health information collected by health plans, no such guidance currently exists with respect to the security and privacy of personal identifiable information (PII) collected by employee benefit plans other than health plans. However, plan sponsors and fiduciaries should be aware of, and address, security and privacy issues in connection with PII.

Personal Identifiable Information

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines PII as “information which can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, such as their name, social security number, biometric records, etc. alone, or when combined with other personal or identifying information which is linked or linkable to a specific individual, such as date and place of birth, mother's maiden name, etc.” OMB Memorandum M-07-16. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has, at least informally, stated that information permitting the physical or online contacting of a specific individual is the same as personally identifiable information, and that this information can be maintained in either paper, electronic or other media.

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