Which of the following best describes personally identifiable information (PII)?

Personally identifiable information (PII) refers to any data that can be used to identify a specific individual. This type of information is critical in the context of privacy and data protection because it can potentially be misused for identity theft or other malicious purposes. Examples of PII include names, addresses, social security numbers, and email addresses, all of which are directly linked to a distinct person.

The other options, while related to information, do not fit the definition of PII. Social media data may contain such information but is not exclusively PII since it can include a wide range of content that does not identify individuals directly. Archived business reports and general statistics on populations do not pinpoint individuals and therefore do not qualify as PII.