CIPT (Certified Information Privacy Technologist) Practice

What is "de-identification" in the context of data protection?

1. The complete destruction of personal data

2. The process of removing or modifying personal information to prevent identifying individuals

3. The sharing of anonymous data for research

4. The addition of identifiers to data sets

The correct answer is: The process of removing or modifying personal information to prevent identifying individuals

De-identification refers specifically to the process of removing or modifying personal information from datasets in a way that prevents the identification of individuals who are the subject of that data. This technique is crucial in data protection as it allows organizations to utilize valuable data for analysis, research, or other purposes without compromising the privacy of individuals. By ensuring that personal identifiers are either removed or altered, de-identification helps organizations comply with privacy regulations and best practices, while still reaping the benefits of data usage. It protects individuals' privacy by making it substantially more difficult to link the data back to any specific person. In contrast, the other options represent practices or concepts that do not align with the definition of de-identification. The complete destruction of personal data pertains to data disposal, sharing anonymous data emphasizes the anonymity aspect without the focus on modification, and adding identifiers directly contradicts the essence of de-identification, which is all about reducing or removing those identifiers.