Introduction
Have you ever entered your personal classified information into a website form, where you were prompted to enter sensitive information? Well, form security is the part where all of that information is kept private and safe & doesn’t end up in wrong hands. Pretty much like keeping a secret code that only the right people could understand, like your name, address, & other important information. Form security is highly important because it helps to keep the information you enter in forms safe when you’re using the web. There are 4 main types of ‘sensitive information’ that needs to be protected. The 4 main types are PII, HIPAA, FERPA & PCI. PII is information that can be used to identify a person (pretty much like your name and address.) HIPAA is a set of rules that keep your health information safe (medical records and such.) FERPA is a law that ensures your educational information is kept safe (Grades, transcript and such.) Finally, PCI is a set of rules that keep your credit card & payment information safe.
Personally Identifiable Information
PII is basically like your secret information that only the right people know & have access to, like your name, address, phone numbers, etc… Shielding your PII is important because it makes sure that your information is safe and secure. And just like how you wouldn’t want anybody but trusted people to know your personal secrets, PII makes sure that your personal information are kept safe from people who shouldn’t have them. I would also go to say that it’s like a safe lock that only a select few trusted people know. It makes sure only those you give permission to can access your personal information.
HIPAA
HIPAA compliance in healthcare-related forms is important because it makes sure that your personal health information is kept safe & private. Pretty much just a set of rules healthcare personnel have to follow to make sure that a patients medical information is kept private & safe. These rules also make sure that this information is only accessed by those who should be seeing it & not seen by those who shouldn’t. These rules can help create trust between healthcare personnel & patients under them. It’s like a ‘pinky promise’ that health organizations make to ensure to their patients that their information is being kept private and safe in the right hands.
FERPA
FERPA is a set of rules that schools have to follow that keeps students education information safe(grades, transcript, classes, etc..). These rules also make sure that only certain people may see/have access to the information. It’s basically just having your private information kept by you & specific people you trust, except it keeps your school information private. FERPA also stops your school from sharing your educational information with others so your privacy is protected. Pretty much like how you wouldn’t want your secrets to be known by anybody, FERPA makes sure your school information is known by a trusted few.
PCI
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard is a set of rules that your payment information safe, created by big credit card companies. It’s meant to protect the important credit card data from being hijacked. Data breach happen when people get access to (private) information that they shouldn’t have anything to do with. The PCI DSS rules are there to prevent data breaches & make sure your payment information is safe whenever you’re using your credit card. These rules build a trust between credit card companies and their customers because it lets customers know that their information is being kept safe.
Conclusion
In this blog we talked about keeping your personal information safe when entering them into online forms. We also explained that there are 4 main types of ‘sensitive information’ that needs to be kept protected: PII, HIPAA, FERPA, & PCI. PII is your identifiable information, like your name and address. HIPAA is the rules that healthcare organizations need to follow to keep your medical information private & confidential in the right hands. FERPA protects your school information, like your grades, classes, transcript, etc… PCI is a set of rules that protects your credit card & payment information. Overall, form security is important because not only does it protect your personal information & such, but it helps create a trusting bond between customers & organizations by keeping their private information secure in the right hands.
