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NIST SP 800-53 Learning Center

PT — Personally Identifiable Information Processing and Transparency

Study this control family as a connected set of risk outcomes, implementation decisions, evidence expectations, and assessment questions.

8Base controls
13Enhancements
21Family records
0Withdrawn records

Control family

Personally Identifiable Information Processing and Transparency

Use the family as a planning boundary, but assess each selected control against the system context, inherited services, organization-defined parameters, and evidence available from real operations.

8 base controls13 enhancementsRelease 5.2.0
PT

Family catalog

Search Personally Identifiable Information Processing and Transparency controls.

Base controls open full profiles. Enhancement results link directly to the corresponding enhancement section on the parent control page.

PT-1control

Policy and Procedures

Personally identifiable information processing and transparency policy and procedures address the controls in the PT family that are implemented within systems and organizations. The risk management strategy is an important factor in establishing such policies and procedures. Policies and procedures contribute to security and privacy assurance. Therefore, it

PT-2control

Authority to Process Personally Identifiable Information

The processing of personally identifiable information is an operation or set of operations that the information system or organization performs with respect to personally identifiable information across the information life cycle. Processing includes but is not limited to creation, collection, use, processing, storage, maintenance, dissemination, disclosure,

PT-3control

Personally Identifiable Information Processing Purposes

Identifying and documenting the purpose for processing provides organizations with a basis for understanding why personally identifiable information may be processed. The term "process" includes every step of the information life cycle, including creation, collection, use, processing, storage, maintenance, dissemination, disclosure, and disposal. Identifying

PT-4control

Consent

Consent allows individuals to participate in making decisions about the processing of their information and transfers some of the risk that arises from the processing of personally identifiable information from the organization to an individual. Consent may be required by applicable laws, executive orders, directives, regulations, policies, standards, or gui

PT-5control

Privacy Notice

Privacy notices help inform individuals about how their personally identifiable information is being processed by the system or organization. Organizations use privacy notices to inform individuals about how, under what authority, and for what purpose their personally identifiable information is processed, as well as other information such as choices individ

PT-6control

System of Records Notice

The [PRIVACT](#18e71fec-c6fd-475a-925a-5d8495cf8455) requires that federal agencies publish a system of records notice in the Federal Register upon the establishment and/or modification of a [PRIVACT](#18e71fec-c6fd-475a-925a-5d8495cf8455) system of records. As a general matter, a system of records notice is required when an agency maintains a group of any r

PT-7control

Specific Categories of Personally Identifiable Information

Organizations apply any conditions or protections that may be necessary for specific categories of personally identifiable information. These conditions may be required by laws, executive orders, directives, regulations, policies, standards, or guidelines. The requirements may also come from the results of privacy risk assessments that factor in contextual c

PT-8control

Computer Matching Requirements

The [PRIVACT](#18e71fec-c6fd-475a-925a-5d8495cf8455) establishes requirements for federal and non-federal agencies if they engage in a matching program. In general, a matching program is a computerized comparison of records from two or more automated [PRIVACT](#18e71fec-c6fd-475a-925a-5d8495cf8455) systems of records or an automated system of records and aut

PT-2(1)enhancement

Data Tagging

Data tags support the tracking and enforcement of authorized processing by conveying the types of processing that are authorized along with the relevant elements of personally identifiable information throughout the system. Data tags may also support the use of automated tools.

PT-2(2)enhancement

Automation

Automated mechanisms augment verification that only authorized processing is occurring.

PT-3(1)enhancement

Data Tagging

Data tags support the tracking of processing purposes by conveying the purposes along with the relevant elements of personally identifiable information throughout the system. By conveying the processing purposes in a data tag along with the personally identifiable information as the information transits a system, a system owner or operator can identify wheth

PT-3(2)enhancement

Automation

Automated mechanisms augment tracking of the processing purposes.

PT-4(1)enhancement

Tailored Consent

While some processing may be necessary for the basic functionality of the product or service, other processing may not. In these circumstances, organizations allow individuals to select how specific personally identifiable information elements may be processed. More tailored consent may help reduce privacy risk, increase individual satisfaction, and avoid ad

PT-4(2)enhancement

Just-in-time Consent

Just-in-time consent enables individuals to participate in how their personally identifiable information is being processed at the time or in conjunction with specific types of data processing when such participation may be most useful to the individual. Individual assumptions about how personally identifiable information is being processed might not be accu

PT-4(3)enhancement

Revocation

Revocation of consent enables individuals to exercise control over their initial consent decision when circumstances change. Organizations consider usability factors in enabling easy-to-use revocation capabilities.

PT-5(1)enhancement

Just-in-time Notice

Just-in-time notices inform individuals of how organizations process their personally identifiable information at a time when such notices may be most useful to the individuals. Individual assumptions about how personally identifiable information will be processed might not be accurate or reliable if time has passed since the organization last presented noti

PT-5(2)enhancement

Privacy Act Statements

If a federal agency asks individuals to supply information that will become part of a system of records, the agency is required to provide a [PRIVACT](#18e71fec-c6fd-475a-925a-5d8495cf8455) statement on the form used to collect the information or on a separate form that can be retained by the individual. The agency provides a [PRIVACT](#18e71fec-c6fd-475a-92

PT-6(1)enhancement

Routine Uses

A [PRIVACT](#18e71fec-c6fd-475a-925a-5d8495cf8455) routine use is a particular kind of disclosure of a record outside of the federal agency maintaining the system of records. A routine use is an exception to the [PRIVACT](#18e71fec-c6fd-475a-925a-5d8495cf8455) prohibition on the disclosure of a record in a system of records without the prior written consent

PT-6(2)enhancement

Exemption Rules

The [PRIVACT](#18e71fec-c6fd-475a-925a-5d8495cf8455) includes two sets of provisions that allow federal agencies to claim exemptions from certain requirements in the statute. In certain circumstances, these provisions allow agencies to promulgate regulations to exempt a system of records from select provisions of the [PRIVACT](#18e71fec-c6fd-475a-925a-5d8495

PT-7(1)enhancement

Social Security Numbers

Federal law and policy establish specific requirements for organizations’ processing of Social Security numbers. Organizations take steps to eliminate unnecessary uses of Social Security numbers and other sensitive information and observe any particular requirements that apply.

PT-7(2)enhancement

First Amendment Information

The [PRIVACT](#18e71fec-c6fd-475a-925a-5d8495cf8455) limits agencies’ ability to process information that describes how individuals exercise rights guaranteed by the First Amendment. Organizations consult with the senior agency official for privacy and legal counsel regarding these requirements.

Planned Academy connection

Bare Metal Cyber course coverage for this family.

These titles come from the approved NIST SP 800-53 course plan. They are shown as planned coverage and do not claim a public lesson URL before publication.

  1. Episode 82: Personally Identifiable Information Processing and Transparency — Part One: Purpose, scope, and responsibilities
  2. Episode 83: Personally Identifiable Information Processing and Transparency — Part Two: Processing, minimization, and consent patterns
  3. Episode 84: Personally Identifiable Information Processing and Transparency — Part Three: Evidence, notices, and pitfalls