So You Want to Work With Patron Data… De-identification Basics

Welcome to this week’s Tip of the Hat! This week’s post is a “back to basics” about de-identification and patron data. Why? After reading a recent article published in the Code4Lib Journal where patron data was not de-identified before combining it with external data sets, now’s a good time as any to remind library workers about de-identification. [1]

De-identification Definitions

Before we talk about de-identification, we must talk about anonymization and the differences between the two:

  • De-identification is when you remove the connection between the data and any identifiable individual in the real world. Sometimes de-identified datasets have a unique identifier replacing personally identifiable information (PII) to data points, which is then called pseudonymization.

De-identification provides a way for some to work with data to track individual trends with a reduced risk of re-identification and other privacy risks. Why “for some” and “reduced”? We’ll get into the whys of the issues with de-identification later in this post.

De-identification Method Basics

PII comes in two forms: data about a person and data about a person’s activities that can be linked back to the person. The methods and level of work needed to sufficiently de-identify patron data depend on the type of PII in the data set. The methods commonly used to de-identify PII include truncation, obfuscation, and aggregation.

  • Obfuscation moves the reference point of the data up a few levels of granularity. An example is using a birth year or age instead of the person’s full birth date.
  • Truncation strips the raw data to a small subsection general enough that it cannot be easily connected to an identifiable person. A real-world example of truncation is HIPAA’s guidance on physical address de-identification, truncating the address to the first three digits of the zip code.
  • Aggregation further groups individual data points creating a more generalized data set. Going back to the obfuscation example, individual ages can be aggregated into age ranges.

There are more methods to de-identify data, some of which can get quite complex, such as differential privacy. The three methods mentioned above, nonetheless, are some of the more accessible de-identification methods available to libraries.

Before You De-identify…

Remember in the first section that we mentioned that de-identification only works for some data sets and only reduces privacy risk? There are two main reasons why this is:

  1. De-identification does not protect outliers in data or for small population data sets. There are equations (more) and properties that can help you determine if your dataset cannot be re-identified, but for most libraries, de-identification is not possible due to the type or size of the data set they wish to deidentify.
  2. De-identified data can still be re-identified through the use of external data sets, particularly if the data in the de-identified dataset was not properly de-identified. An evergreen example is the AOL data set that retained identifying data in the search queries, even though AOL scrubbed identifying data about the searcher.

It is possible to have a de-identified data set of patron data, but the process is not fool-proof. De-identification requires multiple sample de-identification processes and analysis in determining the risk of how easy it is to reconnect the data to an individual.

Overall, de-identification is a tool to help protect patron privacy, but it should not be the only privacy tool used in the patron data lifecycle. The most effective privacy tools and methods in the patron data lifecycle are the questions you ask at the beginning of the lifecycle:

  • Why are you collecting this data?
  • Does this reason tie to a demonstrated business need?
  • Are there other ways you can achieve the business need without collecting high-risk patron PII?

If you want to learn more about de-identification and privacy risks, check out the resources below:

[1] The article contains additional privacy and security concerns that we will not cover in this post, including technical, administrative, and ethical concerns.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes…

Welcome to this week’s Tip of the Hat!

We’ve been busy the last couple of weeks with website and newsletter changes, and now with the dust mostly settled from these changes, we’d like to give you an update about these changes.

Newsletter changes

LDH has been sending newsletters to your inbox for almost a year and a half. While it’s a convenient way to receive the latest privacy updates, searching and linking to these posts were less than convenient. To make access to our privacy updates easier for our subscribers and to the general public, we are proud to launch our Tip of the Hat blog!

What does this mean for newsletter subscribers? You will still receive the latest posts in your inbox. The greatest change is the ease of searching and accessing older posts. The majority of the newsletter archive have now been migrated to the blog, where you can search the archive in multiple ways: free text search, tags, and categories. Each post also has a shorter, permanent URL for easier sharing with your colleagues. We hope that this new blog will give you easier access to all the privacy news you can use!

Website changes

In addition to the blog, LDH has updated our website, including:

  • Services – updated list of services LDH provides for clients and examples of previous client work
  • About – updated list of library privacy work in the field, as well as adding a personnel entry for our Assistant to the Executive Assistant

We’re always looking for ways to improve the website, including content offerings. What would you like to find on the LDH website? Let us know by sending an email to newsletter@ldhconsultingservices.com and we’ll take it from there.