As a hotel employee, you come in contact with guest and employee Personally Identifiable Information (PII) on a daily basis. PII is considered any data that can be related to an individual and should be considered confidential. It is important that you can recognize what types of information are considered PII and keep this information private in order to maintain guest and employee trust.
It is also important to be aware that there are now privacy regulations in most countries, provinces, and States, regarding the collection and use of personal data or PII.
Examples of Personally Identifiable Information
When working behind the front desk or in the back office, cleaning in guest rooms or in the office, you may hear or see guest or employee PII. For example, when a guest checks in, he or she may provide the front desk associate with their postal address, credit card number, smoking preference, disability needs, maybe their e-mail address to make sure it is on file, a phone number to reach them on for any emergencies, and their employer if they are seeking a corporate rate – all of which gets entered into the PMS. You can learn a lot about the guests that check into your hotel! This information is confidential and should not be shared with anyone else. It is your duty to safeguard these types of information so that they are not compromised or misused.
PII can also be found on printed information. Guest kiosks and business center computers are typically connected to printers to allow guests to print their boarding passes before leaving for the airport. Boarding passes typically contain airline loyalty numbers, which is also an example of PII. If a guest accidentally leaves his/ her boarding pass printed out at the computer, another individual could find out his/her loyalty number and misuse this information. Itemized folio expenses are printed from hotel computers for each guest. After these are printed, they should be secured so that they cannot be stolen from the front desk or from underneath guest room doors. Be smart and do not leave potentially sensitive documents unattended. Lock them in a desk drawer while you are away.
As a hotel employee, you should not obtain more information than you need. For instance, there is no need for you to obtain a guest’s Bank Account Details, Driver's License Number, Social Security or Social Insurance Number.
Guest PII is not the only kind of information that needs to be secured! As a hotel employee, you may have access to other hotel staff’s employee ID numbers, compensation data, gender, birthday, and immigration status. This information should be kept confidential.
Additionally, information you obtain about a guest’s or employee’s country of residence, country of birth, or nationality or citizenship should also be safeguarded. Depending on where the individual is traveling, he/she may not want this information revealed.
Example of PII
E-mail Address
Postal Address
Phone Number
Credit Card Number
Airline Loyalty Number
Employer
Passport Number
Date of Birth
Country of Residence
Country of Birth
Smoking Preference
Disability Needs
Itemized Folio Expenses
Social Security or Social Insurance Number
Driver’s License Number
Bank Account Details
Employee ID Number
Gender
Marital Status
Immigration Status
Dependents
Compensation Data
Nationality/Citizenship
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