Скачать или смотреть Secure Handling of Personally Identifiable Information (PII): A Framework for Application Design

SPEAKER: Mrunal Gangrade

The exponential growth of data-driven applications has led to the widespread collection, processing, and storage of Personally Identifiable Information (PII). This trend, while enabling personalized services and improved user experiences, poses significant risks related to data privacy, unauthorized access, and regulatory non-compliance. Despite the increasing adoption of security protocols, many applications still lack robust and standardized mechanisms to safeguard sensitive user information effectively.

This research presents a comprehensive framework for the secure handling of PII throughout the application lifecycle. It examines current challenges and threats associated with PII exposure, including misconfigured databases, insecure APIs, excessive data collection, and lack of user consent management. The study evaluates technical strategies such as encryption, anonymization, tokenization, and differential privacy, as well as process-level controls including data minimization, role-based access, and audit trails.

Leveraging a combination of threat modeling, case studies, and performance benchmarks, the research assesses the effectiveness of various privacy-enhancing technologies across different application architectures—web, mobile, and cloud-native. It also reviews legal and regulatory requirements such as GDPR, CCPA, and HIPAA, translating them into actionable security and design principles.

The proposed framework emphasizes a privacy-by-design approach, integrating secure PII handling into development workflows through automation, continuous monitoring, and developer-friendly toolchains. The findings provide practical guidance for application developers, architects, and compliance officers aiming to build resilient systems that protect user data and maintain trust in an increasingly privacy-conscious digital environment.