MEANING
The process of removing or changing information that reveals which person a record or message concerns.
Use it for
describing protection of research participants’ identities; distinguishing identifying information from substantive data; evaluating whether released records still permit identificationNames removal or alteration of identifying information without assuming that deleting names guarantees anonymity. Academic functions: Research / Methodology.
Words that belong together
- data anonymization
- anonymization of records
- an anonymization procedure
On the page
Anonymization removed direct identifiers before the interview records were shared.
Deleting names alone may leave enough contextual detail to identify a participant, so the anonymization procedure requires further assessment.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- anonymization
Usage notes
Normally uncountable. British anonymisation is a spelling variant. No separate headword for the plural or spelling variant. Register: technical. Commonness: uncommon (qualitative editorial estimate, informed by dictionaries/corpus).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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