Office of Research and Project Administration

 

October 23, 2007 

Department of Energy, Chicago Office’s Financial Assistance Recipients

SUBJECT:  URGENT NOTIFICATION - PROTECTION OF PERSONALLY

IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION

It has come to our attention that Personally Identifiable Information (PII) has been included in some scientific/technical reports submitted by Department of Energy (DOE) award recipients electronically-via the DOE Energy Link System (E-Link), accessed at http://www.osti.gov/elink-2413.  If these documents were marked as publicly releasable “unlimited announcement”, this began the process for making them publicly available through DOE public web systems. 

PII is any information about an individual which can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity.  Some information that is considered to be PII is available in public sources such as telephone books, public websites, university listings, etc.  This type of information is considered to be Public PII and includes, for example, first and last name, address, work telephone number, email address, home telephone number, and general educational credentials.  In contrast, Protected PII is defined as an individual’s first name or first initial and last name in combination with any one or more of types of information, including, but not limited to, social security number, passport number, credit card numbers, clearances, bank numbers, biometrics, date and place of birth, mother’s maiden name, criminal, medical and financial records, educational transcripts, etc. 

Please be advised that Protected PII is not to be included in any technical report submitted to DOE.  If your organization has submitted report(s) to DOE containing Protected PII, please contact your DOE contracting officer immediately.  If you have any questions regarding this notification and request, contact Eric Simpson at (630) 252-2108 or Patricia Schuneman at (630) 252-2956.