Reconsidering Anonymization-Related Concepts and the Term "Identification" Against the Backdrop of the European Legal Framework

Sariyar, Murat; Schlünder, Irene (2016). Reconsidering Anonymization-Related Concepts and the Term "Identification" Against the Backdrop of the European Legal Framework Biopreservation and biobanking, 14(5), pp. 367-374. Liebert 10.1089/bio.2015.0100

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Sharing data in biomedical contexts has become increasingly relevant, but privacy concerns set constraints for free sharing of individual-level data. Data protection law protects only data relating to an identifiable individual, whereas "anonymous" data are free to be used by everybody. Usage of many terms related to anonymization is often not consistent among different domains such as statistics and law. The crucial term "identification" seems especially hard to define, since its definition presupposes the existence of identifying characteristics, leading to some circularity. In this article, we present a discussion of important terms based on a legal perspective that it is outlined before we present issues related to the usage of terms such as unique "identifiers," "quasi-identifiers," and "sensitive attributes." Based on these terms, we have tried to circumvent a circular definition for the term "identification" by making two decisions: first, deciding which (natural) identifier should stand for the individual; second, deciding how to recognize the individual. In addition, we provide an overview of anonymization techniques/methods for preventing re-identification. The discussion of basic notions related to anonymization shows that there is some work to be done in order to achieve a mutual understanding between legal and technical experts concerning some of these notions. Using a dialectical definition process in order to merge technical and legal perspectives on terms seems important for enhancing mutual understanding.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

School of Engineering and Computer Science > Institut für Medizininformatik I4MI

Name:

Sariyar, Murat and
Schlünder, Irene

ISSN:

1947-5543

Publisher:

Liebert

Language:

English

Submitter:

Lea Meier

Date Deposited:

18 Nov 2020 10:59

Last Modified:

18 Nov 2020 10:59

Publisher DOI:

10.1089/bio.2015.0100

PubMed ID:

27104620

Uncontrolled Keywords:

anonymization data protection identity re-identification

ARBOR DOI:

10.24451/arbor.13270

URI:

https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/13270

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