Poll Results: Anonymization Still Possible

Majority of responders thought it was still possible for companies to anonymize and release large personal datasets, but some questioned if the anonymized data would still be useful.

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The previous KDnuggets Poll was motivated by the recent cancellation of the Second Netflix Prize due to privacy concerns.

The poll asked

With so much personal information online, do you think that it is still possible for companies like Netflix to anonymize and release large datasets (for research and competitions)?

The majority of responders (56%) thought it was still possible.

Some of the comments were

more granularity is needed when considering privacy. For me the key concern is what information can be discovered. From the Netflix example, if people's health backgrounds were being uncovered that would be an issue. That they were found on IMDB doesn't seem interesting since the individuals weren't concerned with that aspect of their lives being anonymous

Asking is anonymization is possible is only part of the question. I would say it is possible (although not necessarily easy) - but it is still an open question if anonymized data retains sufficient utility.

Here are full results of KDnuggets 2010 Poll: Is Anonymization Still Possible.