Lesson 1 of 8 · about 1 minute
Before you can protect something, you have to know what it is. This lesson shows what counts as Protected Information at GCHS.
Protected Information is any personal, financial, health, criminal history, victim-of-violence or identifying information about an applicant, a household member, a program participant, or a TDHCA employee. It counts in any form: on paper, on a screen, in a photo, or said out loud.
Many people think only a Social Security number is protected. Not so. A name together with a home address identifies a real person, and that is enough. So are income figures, ID cards, health and disability details, and the names of household members.
GCHS sorts information into three levels. Public information is meant for everyone, like program flyers and our website. Internal information is GCHS business that contains no personal details. Protected information is everything described above.
If a record mixes Protected Information with anything else, the whole record is treated as Protected.
Open Protected Information only when you need it for your GCHS duties. Some staff have full access to review applications. Others, like inspectors, see only a name, address and phone number.