Personally Identifying Information

Underway data and documentation collected by academic research vessels are routinely submitted to the NSF-supported Rolling Deck to Repository (R2R) program at the end of each cruise, and deposited in the NOAA National Data Centers for permanent archiving and dissemination. As such, they must comply with federal guidelines including the U.S. Department of Commerce (DoC) policy on Electronic Transmission of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) (ref. U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Memorandum M-07-16, “Safeguarding Against and Responding to the Breach of Personally Identifiable Information”).

Per DoC policy as published by the Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO), PII is defined as “information which can be used to distinguish or trace an individual's identity, .. alone, or when combined with other personal or identifying information which is linked or linkable to a specific individual.” PII is further classified as “Sensitive” or “Non-Sensitive”.

“Sensitive” PII includes:
      • Social Security Numbers (including truncated to last 4 digits)
      • Place of birth
      • Date of birth
      • Mother's maiden name
      • Biometric information
      • Medical information, except brief references to absences from work
      • Personal financial information
      • Credit card or purchase card account numbers
      • Passport numbers
      • Potentially sensitive employment information eg. personnel ratings, disciplinary actions, and result of background investigations
      • Criminal history
      • Any information that may stigmatize or adversely affect an individual

Data and documentation submitted by academic research vessels to the R2R program, and deposited in the NOAA National Data Centers, should not include any PII classified as “Sensitive”.

Note, for reference, “Non-Sensitive” PII (acceptable for submission to R2R) includes:
      • Work, home, and mobile phone numbers
      • Work and home addresses
      • Work and personal e-mail addresses
      • Resumes that do not include an SSN or where the SSN is redacted
      • General background information eg. biographies
      • Position descriptions and performance plans without ratings