DON Revises Fax Policy on Transmitting PII
Published, November 9, 2012
The Feb. 2012 message, Department of the Navy Social Security Number (SSN) Reduction Plan Phase Three, prohibited the faxing of SSNs and other personally identifiable information (PII) in all but a few special cases. Since its release, many processes that require the faxing of PII, specifically the SSN, have been identified. To ensure that business processes continue uninterrupted to the maximum extent possible, the policy has been revised and new policy released.
The new fax policy states, that effective immediately, the use of fax machines to send information containing SSN and other PII by DON personnel is prohibited except under the following circumstances:
- When another more secure means of transmitting PII is not practical.
- When a process outside of DON control requires faxing to activities such as the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), Tricare, Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC), etc.
- In cases where operational necessity requires expeditious handling.
- When faxing PII related to internal government operations only, i.e., office phone number, rank, job title, etc.