Industry Insights

In our blog we provide you with industry insights on privacy, anonymization, analytics and of course information about our solution Aircloak Insights.

Category: Anonymization


July 26, 2019 by Felix Bauer

On The Not So Surprising Failure of Anonymization ;)™️

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s pack our things. Unsubscribe. Turns out anonymization is impossible. “Your Data Were ‘Anonymized’? These Scientists Can Still Identify You”, New York Times titles. TechCrunch writes, dramatically: “Researchers spotlight the lie of “anonymous” data” and Mashable apologizes on the spot: “Sorry, your ‘anonymized’ data probably isn’t anonymous”. The Guardian, Forbes, CNBC, and many others ring the same … read more


May 10, 2019 by Nicolas Sartor

Explaining Differential Privacy in 3 Levels of Difficulty

When dealing with data anonymization, one inevitably encounters differential privacy. Many privacy researchers regard it as the “gold standard” of anonymization. Well-known tech companies such as Apple or Google are using it for certain data analyses and market it to raise public awareness underlining their focus on data protection. But what exactly stands behind this approach, and why does it … read more


April 8, 2019 by Nicolas Sartor

Privacy Enhancing Technologies and Anonymization: 11 Experts Share Their Insights

We asked 11 different experts that are journalists, researchers, data protection officers, consultants and data scientists about their thoughts on how Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) and data anonymization can help in a data-driven future. See what they had to say below. Wolfie Christl Privacy Researcher “Companies very often use the word anonymization when really nothing is anonymized at all. […] … read more

Aircloak Illustration Stop

February 25, 2019 by Felix Bauer

The 7 Myths of Data Anonymization

In our daily work as a company for a data anonymization solution we are often asked to clarify data anonymization with customers and in personal conversations. Alarmingly often we hear questions like “What is the difference between anonymization and encryption again?”. But some questions demonstrate serious misunderstandings, which can have equally serious consequences. To shed some light on this mystery, … read more

CPDP Logo 2019

February 13, 2019 by Nicolas Sartor

Certification for GDPR-compliant Anonymity: Real Anonymization or just another Risk Assessment?

There are plenty of different perspectives on data anonymity: Legal, economical, technological and of course ethical ones. At the CPDP 2019 conference, Aircloak hosted a panel that brought all these different views together at one table. The panel has investigated one of the most pressing questions currently facing us in the field of data anonymization: What are the problems and … read more

Pillars

February 11, 2019 by Paul Francis

The 4 Pillars of GDPR Compliance Assurance in Data Anonymization

The European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) states that anonymous data is not personal data, and therefore does not fall under the purview of GDPR. The GDPR, in Recital 26, defines anonymous as: “…information which does not relate to an identified or identifiable natural person or to personal data rendered anonymous in such a manner that the data subject … read more

People crossing a street in Tokio

February 4, 2019 by Nicolas Sartor

Top 5 Free Data Anonymization Tools

There is a wide range of data anonymization tools available. The selection should be carefully made according to the purpose for which you want to anonymize your data. The most important questions you have to ask yourself is: What programming environment are you using? Does it have to work in a specific one like R? What anonymization methods do you … read more