Data de-identification tools help companies derive value from their datasets without the risks of using personally identifiable information. Data de-identification software remove sensitive or personally identifying data—names, dates of birth, and other identifiers—in datasets in a way that is not re-identifiable. Data de-identification solutions help companies derive value from datasets without compromising the privacy of the data subjects in a given dataset. Data de-identification is essential for companies working with sensitive and highly-regulated data. Companies choose to de-identify their data to reduce their risk of holding personally identifiable information and comply with privacy and data protection laws such as HIPAA, CCPA, and GDPR.
Data de-identification solutions has some overlap with data masking software, or data obfuscation software. However, with data de-identification solutions, the risk of the data being reidentified is low. With data masking, sensitive data retains its actual identifying features like age range and zip code but masks (or redacts blanks or hashes) identifying information such as names, addresses, phone numbers, and other sensitive data. It is possible to remove the data mask and re-identify the data. Data masking is often used as a way for companies to maintain sensitive data while preventing misuse of that data by employees or insider threats.
To qualify for inclusion in the Data De-identification category, a product must:
Remove sensitive or identifying information from data
Prevent re-identification of data
Meet de-identification requirements under data privacy or data protection laws