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Governance, Risk, Audit & Privacy · Intermediate

De-identification

General term for removing or obscuring identifiers to reduce the link between data and individuals.

Definition

De-identification ranges from removing direct identifiers to robust anonymization. Under HIPAA it has a specific legal meaning (Safe Harbor or Expert Determination). Under US state privacy laws, de-identified data requires public commitments not to re-identify and contractual controls on recipients.

Example

A company removes names and emails and contractually prohibits partners from re-identifying a dataset.

Exam tip

Legal definitions of de-identified differ by law; read which law the question cites.

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