EvidenceSheet
NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 · PT - PII Processing and Transparency

PT-7(1) Specific Categories of Personally Identifiable Information | Social Security Numbers

When a system processes Social Security numbers: (a) Eliminate unnecessary collection, maintenance, and use of Social Security numbers, and explore alternatives to their use as a personal identifier; (b) Do not deny any individual any right, benefit, or privilege provided by law because of such individual’s refusal to disclose his or her Social Security number; and (c) Inform any individual who is asked to disclose his or her Social Security number whether that disclosure is mandatory or voluntary, by what statutory or other authority such number is solicited, and what uses will be made of it.

Source: NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5, PT-7(1). The statement above is our statement of the clause, read from the published text and cited so you can check it against the official text, not the instrument verbatim. Open NIST SP 800-53 Rev 5 in the compliance library.

Base controls and their enhancements. Which apply follows the baseline you are assessed against (for example FedRAMP Moderate or High, or the low, moderate and high baselines of SP 800-53B). Text in square brackets is a parameter your organisation sets.

6
artefacts
0
held by a system
2
at each review
hard
to go live
Policy repository / GRC workspace
where the evidence lives
teal = a system already holds it · olive = produced at each review. To go live: easy when half or more of the artefacts are already held by a system, moderate from a quarter to a half, hard below a quarter.

These are the artefacts auditors commonly ask for on this requirement, our guidance rather than text from the standard. Your assessor decides what is sufficient in your context, and asks for samples across the period when a report covers one.

system holds itEvidence a system already holds

none for this control

periodic reviewEvidence produced at each review

  • Privacy Act system of records · Data governance / DLP tooling
  • Test of Organizational processes for identifying, reviewing, and taking action to control the unnecessary use of Social Security numbers; implementation of an alternative to Social Security numbers as identifiers · Document repository

governing documentDocuments that govern the control

  • Personally identifiable information processing and transparency policy and procedures · Policy repository / GRC workspace
  • Privacy notice · Policy repository / GRC workspace
  • Separate notice regarding the use of Social Security numbers · Policy repository / GRC workspace
  • Privacy plan · Policy repository / GRC workspace

First move

No system holds this evidence for you: it is people and documents. Reminders and routing to the owner still save time. Put the document under version control with an owner and review date, and log each review as a record with reviewer and date.

Common gaps auditors find

Do this for your whole sheet

Paste the rows you run your controls from and get this mapping for every control at once, with the periodic-review ones flagged and a first move per row. No account for the first run.

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PT-7 Specific Categories of Personally Identifiable Information · PT-7(2) Specific Categories of Personally Identifiable Information | First Amendment Information