Which statement best distinguishes PII, PHI, and anonymization?

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Understanding how personal data is identified and protected helps you pick the right statement. PII stands for personally identifiable information, meaning any data that can identify a person. PHI stands for protected health information, which is a subset of PII that specifically relates to an individual’s health information and is protected by privacy rules. Anonymization is the process of removing or obscuring those identifiers so the data can no longer be linked to a specific person.

The best choice captures all of this accurately: PII is personally identifiable information; PHI is protected health information; anonymization removes identifiers so data cannot be linked to individuals. It reflects that PHI is a health-related category within PII and that anonymization aims to prevent re-identification by stripping identifiers.

The other options misstate what the terms stand for or what anonymization does—for example, suggesting PII stands for protected personal information, or that anonymization adds identifiers, or equating PHI with all PII, or claiming anonymization is encryption.