To anonymize is
- to organize data in such a way as to preserve the anonymity or hide the personal identity of the individual(s) to whom the data pertains.
- the process of transforming or eliminating PII for purposes of sharing data.
Overview[]
"A number of reasons have been cited why individuals might use services such as Tor to anonymize online activity. Anonymizing services have been used for legal and illegal activities ranging from keeping sensitive communications private to selling illegal drugs."[1]
"Anonymization is increasingly easily defeated by the very techniques that are being developed for many legitimate applications of big data. In general, as the size and diversity of available data grows, the likelihood of being able to re-identify individuals (that is, re‐associate their records with their names) grows substantially. While anonymization may remain somewhat useful as an added safeguard in some situations, approaches that deem it, by itself, a sufficient safeguard need updating."[2]
References[]
- ↑ Dark Web (CRS Report), at 7.
- ↑ Big Data and Privacy: A Technological Perspective, at xi.