Table 1.

Per HIPAA Privacy Rule, the following identifiers must be deleted from PHI to fully de-identify health information. (*) As of 2010, there were 18 sets of zip codes with distinct initial three digits whose corresponding population sizes were less than or equal to 20,000.²

1. Names 2. All geographic subdivisions smaller than a state, except the first two digits of the zip code of the postal address. The third digit of the zip code can also be left intact, only if the size of the population in the area of the censored two digits is greater than 20,000 according to the most recent census data.(*) 3. All elements of dates (except year) for dates directly related to an individual, including birth date, admission date, discharge date, date of death; and all ages over 89 and all elements of dates (including year) indicative of such age, except that such ages and elements may be aggregated into a single category of age 90 or older. 4. Telephone numbers.

5. Fax numbers. 6. Electronic mail addresses. 7. Social security numbers. 8. Medical record numbers. 9. Health plan beneficiary numbers. 10. Account numbers. 11. Certificate/license numbers. 12. Vehicle identifiers and serial numbers, including license plate numbers. 13. Device identifiers and serial numbers. 14. Web universal resource locators (URLs). 15. Internet Protocol (IP) address numbers. 16. Biometric identifiers, including fingerprints and voiceprints. 17. Full-face photographic images and any comparable images. 18. Any other unique identifying number, characteristic, or code, except the ones that may be generated by the covered entity for re-identification.