all-in-one privacy solution":["Proton Unlimited is een all-in-one privacy-oplossing"],"Black Friday":["Black Friday"],"No ads. Privacy by default.":["Geen advertenties. Standaard privacy."],"People before profits":["Mensen vóór winst"],"Security through transparency":["Veiligheid door openheid"],"The best Proton Mail ${ BLACK_FRIDAY } deals":["De beste ${ BLACK_FRIDAY }-deals voor Proton Mail"],"The world’s only community- supported email service":["'s Werelds enige door de community ondersteunde e-mailservice"]},"specialoffer:limited":{"${ hours } hour":["${ hours } uur","${ hours } uur"],"${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } and ${ secondsLeft } left":["Nog ${ hoursLeft }, ${ minutesLeft } en ${ secondsLeft } resterend"],"${ minutes } minute":["${ minutes } minuut","${ minutes } minuten"],"${ seconds } second":["${ seconds } seconde","${ seconds } seconden"],"Limited time offer":["Aanbieding beperkt geldig"]},"specialoffer:listitem":{"Create multiple addresses":["Maak meerdere e-mailadressen aan"],"Hide-my-email aliases":["Hide-my-email-aliassen"],"Quickly unsubscribe from newsletters":["Meld u eenvoudig af voor nieuwsbrieven"],"Use your own domain name":["Gebruik uw eigen domeinnaam"]},"specialoffer:logos":{"As featured in":["Zoals te lezen in"]},"specialoffer:metadescription":{"Get an encrypted email that protects your privacy":["Kies voor beveiligde e-mail die uw privacy beschermt"]},"specialoffer:metatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday Sale - Up to 40% off":["Proton Mail Black Friday Sale - Tot 40% korting"]},"specialoffer:newmetadescription":{"Get up to 40% off Proton Mail subscriptions this Black Friday. Find great deals on our secure end-to-end encrypted email plans.":["Profiteer tijdens Black Friday van wel 40% korting op Proton Mail-abonnementen. Bekijk geweldige aanbiedingen voor onze veilige, end-to-end versleutelde e-mailabonnementen."]},"specialoffer:newmetatitle":{"Proton Mail Black Friday sale | Up to 40% off secure email":["Proton Mail Black Friday Sale | Tot 40% korting op veilige e-mail"]},"specialoffer:note":{"* Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["*U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor het eerste jaar"],"*Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["*U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor de eerste 2 jaar"],"30-day money-back guarantee":["30 dagen niet-goed-geld-terug-garantie"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first 2 years":["U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor de eerste 2 jaar"],"Billed at ${ TOTAL_SUM } for the first year":["U betaalt ${ TOTAL_SUM } voor het eerste jaar"],"You save ${ SAVE_SUM }":["U bespaart ${ SAVE_SUM }"]},"specialoffer:off":{"${ PERCENT_OFF } off":["−${ PERCENT_OFF }"]},"specialoffer:testimonial":{"I love my ProtonMail":["Ik ben fan van ProtonMail"],"My favorite email service":["Mijn favoriete e-mailservice"],"Thanks Proton for keeping us all safe in the complicated internet universe.":["Proton houdt ons allemaal veilig in het complexe internetuniversum."],"You get what you pay for. In the case of big tech, if you pay nothing, you get used. I quit using Gmail and switched to @ProtonMail":["Je krijgt waarvoor je betaalt. In het geval van Big Tech betekent 'gratis' dat je wordt gebruikt. Ik ben gestopt met Gmail en overgestapt op @ProtonMail"]},"specialoffer:time":{"Days":["Dagen"],"Hours":["Uur"],"Min":["Min"]},"specialoffer:title":{"And much more":["En nog veel meer"],"Safe from trackers":["Beschermd tegen trackers"],"Stay organized":["Blijf georganiseerd"],"Black Friday email deals":["Black Friday-deals voor e-mail"],"Don’t just take our word for it":["U hoeft ons niet te geloven"],"Make your inbox yours":["Maak uw inbox van u"],"Our story":["Ons verhaal"],"Transfer your data from Google in one click":["Zet uw gegevens van Google over met één klik"]},"specialoffer:tooltip":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES }+ countries, connect up to 10 devices, access worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Bekijk geblokkeerde inhoud en surf privé. Met ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS }+ servers in meer dan ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES } landen, verbinding met maximaal 10 apparaten, wereldwijd toegang tot streamingdiensten, malware- en advertentieblokkering, en meer."],"Easily share your calendar with your family, friends or colleagues, and view external calendars.":["Deel uw agenda eenvoudig met uw familie, vrienden of collega's, en bekijk externe agenda's."],"Includes support for 1 custom email domain, 10 email addresses, 10 hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Ondersteuning voor 1 aangepast e-maildomein, 10 e-mailadressen, 10 hide-my-email-aliassen, gedeelde agenda's en meer."],"Includes support for 3 custom email domains, 15 email addresses, unlimited hide-my-email aliases, calendar sharing, and more.":["Ondersteuning voor 3 aangepaste e-maildomeinen, 15 e-mailadressen, onbeperkt hide-my-email-aliassen, gedeelde agenda's en meer."],"Manage up to 25 calendars, mobile apps, secured with end-to-end encryption, 1-click calendar import from Google, and more.":["Beheer tot 25 agenda's, mobiele apps, beveiligd met end-to-end versleuteling, agenda's van Google importeren met 1 klik, en meer."]},"Status banner":{"Learn more":["Meer informatie"],"Please note that at the moment we are experiencing issues with the ${ issues[0] } service.":["We ondervinden op dit moment problemen met de ${ issues[0] }service."],"We are experiencing issues with one or more services at the moment.":["We ondervinden momenteel problemen met een of meer services."]},"Status Banner":{"At the moment we are experiencing issues with the Proton VPN service":["Momenteel werkt de dienst van Proton VPN niet naar behoren"],"Learn more":["Meer informatie"]},"steps":{"Step":["Stap"]},"suggestions":{"Suggestions":["Suggesties"]},"Support":{"Sub category":["Subcategorie","Subcategorieën"]},"Support article":{"${ readingTime } min":["${ readingTime } min","${ readingTime } min"],"Category":["Categorie","Categorieën"],"Didn’t find what you were looking for?":["Niet gevonden wat u zocht?"],"General contact":["Algemene contactgegevens"],"Get help":["Krijg hulp"],"Legal contact":["Contactgegevens voor juridische zaken"],"Media contact":["Contactgegevens voor media"],"Partnerships contact":["Contactgegevens voor partnerschappen"],"Reading":["Lezen"]},"Support Form Platform option":{"VPN for Android TV":["VPN voor Android TV"],"VPN for Chromebook":["VPN voor Chromebook"]},"Support troubleshooting":{"App version":["App-versie"],"Browser":["Browser"],"Check if this helps":["Kijk of dit helpt"],"Choose a product":["Kies een product"],"Did this solve your issue?":["Heeft dit uw probleem opgelost?"],"Faster assistance is just a few clicks away":["Snellere hulp is met een paar klikken geregeld"],"How can we help?":["Hoe kunnen we helpen?"],"No, contact support":["Nee, contact opnemen met ondersteuning"],"Please fill out one field after another":["Vul de velden achter elkaar in"],"Please make your selections":["Maak een keuze"],"Proton account":["Proton-account"],"Proton for Business":["Proton for Business"],"Thank you for your feedback":["Bedankt voor uw feedback"],"What can we help with?":["Waar kunnen we mee helpen?"],"Yes":["Ja"]},"support_modal_search_query":{"Search query":["Zoekopdracht"]},"support_search_button":{"Search":["Zoeken"]},"support_search_i_am_looking_for":{"I'm looking for":["Ik ben op zoek naar"]},"SupportForm":{"For a faster resolution, please report the issue from the Bridge app: Help > Report a problem.":["Om problemen sneller op te lossen, meldt u het via de Bridge-app: Help > Een probleem melden."],"Information":["Informatie"]},"SupportForm:option":{"Account Security":["Accountbeveiliging"],"Contacts":["Contactpersonen"],"Custom email domain":["Aangepast e-maildomein"],"Email delivery and Spam":["E-maillevering en spam"],"Encryption":["Versleuteling"],"Login and password":["Inlognaam en wachtwoord"],"Merge aliases and accounts":["Aliassen en accounts samenvoegen"],"Migrate to Proton":["Migreren naar Proton"],"Notifications":["Meldingen"],"Other":["Overig"],"Plans and billing":["Abonnementen en facturering"],"Proton for Business":["Proton for Business"],"Sign up":["Inschrijven"],"Storage":["Opslag"],"Users, addresses, and identities":["Gebruikers, adressen en identiteiten"]},"SupportForm:optionIntro":{"Select a topic":["Kies een onderwerp"]},"swiss_baseed_feature":{"Swiss based":["Gevestigd in Zwitserland"]},"Testimonial":{"Awards":["Awards"],"Customers":["Klanten"],"Featured":["Featured"],"Go to testimonial source":["Naar bron van testimonial"],"Open source of award":["Bron van award openen"],"Open source of quote":["Bron van citaat openen"],"Reviews":["Reviews"],"Videos":["Video's"],"Watch on TikTok":["Bekijken op TikTok"],"Watch on YouTube":["Bekijken op YouTube"]},"TestimonialCategory":{"Awards":["Awards"],"Customers":["Klanten"],"Featured":["Featured"],"Media":["Media"],"Reviews":["Reviews"],"Videos":["Video's"]},"Text":{"If you need help, check out our ${ supportLink }.":["Bekijk onze ${ supportLink } als u hulp nodig hebt."],"The page you’re looking for might have been removed, or it could be an\nold link.":["De pagina waarnaar u op zoek bent, is mogelijk verwijderd, of u gebruikt een oude koppeling."],"Your question may already have an answer in our knowledge base:":["Uw vraag is mogelijk al beantwoord in onze kennisbank:"]},"Title":{"On this page":["Op deze pagina"],"Related articles":["Gerelateerde artikelen"],"Share ${ thisPage }":["${ thisPage } delen"],"Switch to Proton Pass - Contact us":["Stap over op Proton Pass - Neem contact met ons op"],"Thank you!":["Bedankt!"],"this page":["deze pagina"]},"Tooltip":{"More information":["Meer informatie"]},"tooltip_vpn":{"Access blocked content and browse privately. Includes ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS }+ servers in ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES }+ countries, highest VPN speed, ${ TOTAL_VPN_CONNECTIONS } VPN connections, worldwide streaming services, malware and ad-blocker, and more.":["Bekijk geblokkeerde inhoud en surf privé. Met meer dan ${ TOTAL_VPN_SERVERS } servers in meer dan ${ TOTAL_VPN_COUNTRIES } landen, de hoogste VPN-snelheid, ${ TOTAL_VPN_CONNECTIONS } VPN-verbindingen, wereldwijde streamingdiensten, malware- en advertentieblokkering, en meer."]},"vpn_servers":{"Get Proton VPN Plus":["Neem Proton VPN Plus"]},"wallet_signup_2024:Action":{"Get Proton Wallet":["Kies Proton Wallet"]},"wallet_signup_2024:Homepage hero product link title":{"Wallet":["Wallet"]},"wallet_signup_2024:Homepage product navigation bar":{"Wallet":["Wallet"]},"wallet_signup_2024:menu item":{"Bitcoin guide":["Bitcoin-gids"],"Proton Wallet news":["Proton Wallet-nieuws"],"Proton Wallet support":["Ondersteuning voor Proton Wallet"]},"wallet_signup_2024:Pricing":{"Includes everything in Proton Unlimited and":["Omvat alles van Proton Unlimited en"],"Limited availability":["Beperkte beschikbaarheid"],"The easiest way to securely own, send, and receive Bitcoin":["De eenvoudigste manier om Bitcoin veilig te bewaren, versturen en ontvangen"]},"wallet_signup_2024:ProductRange":{"Discover Proton Wallet":["Ontdek Proton Wallet"],"Store and transact Bitcoin privately with an encrypted self-custody wallet.":["Bewaar en verhandel Bitcoin privé met een versleutelde zelfbeheerde portemonnee."]},"wallet_signup_2024:wallet bitcoin":{"Learn about Bitcoin, the Internet's value network.":["Meer informatie over Bitcoin, het valutanetwerk van het internet."]},"wallet_signup_2024:wallet overview":{"Ensure you're always in control of your Bitcoin.":["Zorg dat u altijd de controle heeft over uw Bitcoins."]},"wallet_signup_2024:wallet security":{"The encrypted, open-source wallet that puts you in control.":["De versleutelde, open-source portemonnee waarvan u de baas bent."]}}},"base":"blog","cdn":{"enabledForAssets":true,"enabledForImages":true,"url":"https://pmecdn.protonweb.com/"},"unleashApi":"https://account.proton.me/api"};
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Personally identifiable information: What it is and how to protect it | Proton
If you’re a little tech savvy, you probably know you need to protect personally identifiable information, also known as PII. But what is considered personally identifiable information exactly? And how can you best protect your personal data?
Personally identifiable information can be defined as any data that can identify an individual. It’s different from personal data in that personal data can be any information you want to keep private, while PII is data that can be used to track you online — or even offline.
PII includes data that can identify somebody by itself, like a person’s name, but it could also be data points that can identify someone when combined with other data (see indirect PII below). A good example is a birth date or your IP address(nieuw venster).
You could even include biometric data on this list, or photographs that clearly show your face. Pretty much anything that another person or a computer could use to make a nearly direct identification of you as a person is PII.
Indirect PII
On top of this there’s also more indirect PII, which can be used to puzzle together who you are along with other data points — hence why it’s also known as “linked” data. Note that the line between what’s direct and indirect personally identifiable information can be a little blurry, depending on different regulatory authorities, and in which situation the PII is being used.
Date or place of birth
Mother’s maiden name
IP address
Race or religion
Financial information
Education data
Political information (trade union membership or party affiliation, for example)
It should be noted that different entities may have different opinions on how important this information is. For example, the GDPR is a lot stricter concerning political data than the US, as union organizers(nieuw venster) have found out. Some other countries, especially those with strong clerical establishments, will have religious affiliation even on ID cards.
How PII can be used against you
As you can imagine, your personally identifiable information can be used against you. There are more than a few parties interested in getting their hands on people’s PII for their own ends. Let’s go over some of the worst offenders.
Big Tech
The biggest collectors of data are probably companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, and others who make their money selling ads. The more effective the ad, the more money it makes, giving these companies a lot of incentive to know a lot about you so they can better target ads.
The result is something called surveillance capitalism(nieuw venster), where PII is just another commodity to be traded, like lumber or oil or steel. As the basis of these companies’ business strategy, this way of using people’s data for their own gain isn’t going anywhere, either.
Data brokers
Assisting Big Tech are data brokers, who help collect, bundle, and sell people’s data, often working directly with these giants (here’s just one example(nieuw venster)). They’ll take data from the web, add it to publicly available information — land registries or even phonebooks — and sell it off in bundles. There’s little you can do about it, with some of the biggest players in this space even lobbying government(nieuw venster) to not pass privacy measures.
Cybercriminals
The last group interested in PII are cybercriminals, who often want to use it for phishing attempts. In these cases, your personal information is used to gain your trust (or that of somebody close to you) so you’ll give up something the attackers want, usually money or access.
For example, somebody pretending to be a family member suddenly urgently needs money, or you get an email from a colleague needing to use your credentials. The more the attackers know about you, the more convincing these scams are.
PII protection
Protecting your personally identifiable information is important. Thankfully, it’s something that’s relatively straightforward to do. While you won’t be able to stop the activities of data brokers single-handedly, there’s a lot you can do to secure your information.
This is where Proton comes in. We’re a security and privacy-focused company that offers several products you can use to keep yourself safe online. For example, our VPN(nieuw venster) will protect your true IP address so you can no longer be tracked in this manner, while our secure mail service, Proton Mail uses state-of-the-art encryption to keep your email from being intercepted.
To protect your online identity, we offer Proton Pass. As a password manager it makes sure you always have strong, random passwords, but thanks to its use of email aliases it also gives you the option of hiding your email address when signing up for new accounts. Using aliases takes away a very important identifier for data brokers and other online predators.
Finally, our secure cloud storage service, Proton Drive, can help you store digital copies of any important documents, photos, or videos. Thanks to our use of end-to-end encryption across our services, whatever you keep in our cloud can be seen only by you; even we don’t have access to it. This means that even if there’s a breach, all the attackers will get away with are encrypted files.
Proton Drive is the best possible place for all your personally identifiable information also because when you do decide to share it, you have a lot of control. Not only can you fine-tune who gets to see it, you can terminate sharing whenever you want or even decide to let sharing expire on a set date and time.
We can offer these kinds of features because, unlike many of our competitors, we’re entirely funded by you, our community. We don’t have shareholders pushing us to sell personal data to turn a quick buck, we just need to make sure our product is good enough so you’ll stay. If that sounds like something you would want to be a part of, join Proton today. Drive offers up to 5GB of storage for free.
Do you have an incident response plan to protect your business from financial
and reputational damage? Find out how Proton Pass for Business can help you stay
safe.