Which practice is essential for protecting personal identifying information (PII) in grant management?

• A. Publicly posting all data for transparency.
• B. Protecting PII in accordance with policy.
• C. Disabling encryption to speed access.
• D. Sharing passwords among staff.

Answer: (B)

Protecting PII in accordance with policy is the essential practice because grant management involves handling sensitive information about applicants, recipients, and partners. Following established policy ensures privacy protections, regulatory compliance, and reduces the risk of data breaches that can harm individuals, undermine trust, and trigger audit findings. PII includes names, addresses, identifiers like SSNs or Tax IDs, financial data, and grant-related details; handling this data with need-to-know access, encryption, secure transmission, proper retention and destruction, and trained staff keeps it secure throughout the grant lifecycle. Aligning practice with policy balances transparency goals with privacy obligations and maintains the integrity of the grant process. Publicly posting data exposes PII; turning off encryption makes data vulnerable; sharing passwords among staff is unsafe and erodes accountability and security controls.