Introducing OpenPIIMap: The Open Standard for Machine-Readable PII and PHI Definitions

Introducing OpenPIIMap: The Open Standard for Machine-Readable PII and PHI Definitions

In a world increasingly governed by data privacy laws, there's a fundamental question every product, AI team, and compliance officer must answer:

What exactly counts as sensitive data?

That’s harder to define than most think — especially across countries, legal frameworks, and industry contexts. That’s why we created OpenPIIMap.

What Is OpenPIIMap?

OpenPIIMap is an open-source project that maps and maintains machine-readable definitions of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) and Protected Health Information (PHI) — by country, by regulation, and by context.

It provides a structured YAML/JSON schema that:

• Defines sensitive fields (e.g., name, date of birth, IP address)
• Links each field to legal citations (e.g., GDPR Article 4, HIPAA §164.514)
• Tags items with sensitivity level, masking recommendations, and regional notes
• Enables integration into anonymization engines, compliance checks, and AI safety tools

Why It Matters

Today’s data-driven teams work across borders, tools, and laws — and static, English-language policies don’t scale. You need something machine-readable, structured, and legally grounded.

OpenPIIMap helps:

• Developers integrate dynamic PII/PHI logic into apps and models
• Compliance teams automate policy enforcement and coverage analysis
• AI/ML engineers avoid legal blind spots during training and deployment

Built for Privacy-Preserving Infrastructure

OpenPIIMap is designed to power:

• Real-time anonymization systems
• Geo-aware data processing
• Privacy scorecards and coverage dashboards
• Regulatory discovery tools for product, legal, and AI safety teams

It’s compatible with YAML-based config workflows, can be bundled into APIs, and works with both public and private datasets.

Get Involved

OpenPIIMap is open for contribution. Help us:

• Add new countries and frameworks
• Validate legal citations
• Improve schema design and tooling

GitHub: github.com/intelation/OpenPIIMap
Website: www.openpiimap.org

OpenPIIMap isn’t just a dataset — it’s infrastructure for building compliant, privacy-first systems.
Join us in shaping the global standard.