Data Anonymity

• US 20180330104A1
• Filed: 05/15/2017
• Published: 11/15/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Nishitani, Yusuke, Oishi, Yutaka, Tsend-Ochir, Bat-Ulzii, Xu, Xiaoshuang
• Granted Patent: US 10,460,115 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/187 Mounting of fixed and removable disk drives
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/278 Data partitioning, e.g. horizontal or vertical partitioning
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/289 Object oriented databases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/602 Providing cryptographic facilities or services
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6254 by anonymising data, e.g. decorrelating personal data from the owner's identification

Abstract

The present invention may be a method, a system, and a computer program product. An embodiment of the present invention provides a method for ensuring anonymity of data. The method comprises the following: determining the number of members of each cluster, based on one or more features of leaving of the members of the data; and anonymizing the data in the database, using the determined number.

Claims

1-18. -18. (canceled)

19. A system, comprising:

a memory storing a program which, when executed on a processor, performs an operation for ensuring anonymity of data, the operation comprising;

determining the number of members of each cluster, based on one or more features of leaving of the members of the data; and

anonymizing the data in the database, using the determined number.

20. A computer program product for ensuring anonymity of data, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, wherein the computer readable storage medium is not a transitory signal per se, the program instructions executable by a computer to cause the computer to:

determine the number of members of each cluster, based on one or more features of leaving of the members of the data; and

anonymize the data in the database, using the determined number.

21. The computer program product according to claim 20, wherein the one or more features of leaving are a ratio of leaving, a period for leaving, a cause of leaving, or a combination thereof.

22. The computer program product according to claim 21, wherein after the program instructions cause the computer to determine the number of members of each cluster, the program instructions further cause the computer to cluster members whose period for leaving is in a predefined threshold as members of a cluster.

23. The computer program product according to claim 21, wherein after the program instructions cause the computer to determine the number of members of each cluster, the program instructions further cause the computer to cluster members whose period for leaving is outside a predefined threshold as members of a cluster.

24. The computer program product according to claim 21, wherein the determination is made by the program instructions causing the computer to calculate a required minimum number, N, for the members in the each cluster, based on the ratio of leaving;

and wherein the program instructions to anonymize the data in the database using the determined number is performed using k-anonymization with k being the required minimum number, N.

25. The computer program product according to claim 24, wherein the program instructions further cause the computer to:

repeat the program instructions to determine and anonymize in a predetermined interval or in response to decrease of the number of the members of the cluster.

26. The computer program product according to claim 24, wherein, in the database, assuming that the value, k, for the k-anonymization is Y after a passage of a first predefined term, X, and the members of Z % leaves in each second predefined term, the required minimum number, N, is calculated based on the above mentioned X, Y and Z.

27. The computer program product according to claim 26, wherein the required minimum number, N, is calculated according to the following equation:

28. The computer program product according to claim 21, wherein the database has the period for leaving for each member;

wherein the determination is made by the program instructions causing the computer to calculate a required minimum number, N, for the members in the each cluster, and wherein the program instructions to anonymize the data in the database using the determined number is performed using k-anonymization with k being the required minimum number, N.

29. The computer program product according to claim 28, wherein after the program instructions cause the computer to determine the number of members of each cluster, the program instructions further cause the computer to cluster members whose period for leaving is in a predefined threshold as members of a first cluster or program instructions further cause the computer to cluster members whose period for leaving is outside a predefined threshold as members of a second cluster.

30. The computer program product according to claim 28, wherein the program instructions further cause the computer to:

repeat the program instructions to determine and anonymize in a predetermined interval or in response to decrease of the number of the members of the cluster.

31. The computer program product according to claim 28, wherein, in the database, assuming that the value, k, for the k-anonymization is Y after a passage of a predefined term, X, and the required minimum number, N, is calculated based on the above mentioned Y.

32. The method according to claim 31, the required minimum number, N, is calculated according to the following equation:

Y+α

≤

N,

wherein α

is a constant value of zero or more.

33. The computer program product according to claim 21, wherein the database has the period for leaving for each member;

wherein the determination is made by the program instructions causing the computer to calculate a required minimum number, N, for the members in the each cluster, based on the ratio of leaving; and

wherein the program instructions to anonymize the data in the database using the determined number is performed using k-anonymization with k being the required minimum number, N.

34. The computer program product according to claim 33, wherein after the program instructions cause the computer to determine the number of members of each cluster, the program instructions further cause the computer to cluster members whose period for leaving is in a predefined threshold as members of a first cluster or program instructions further cause the computer to cluster members whose period for leaving is outside a predefined threshold as members of a second cluster.

35. The computer program product according to claim 33, the method further comprising:

repeat the program instructions to determine and anonymize in a predetermined interval or in response to decrease of the number of the members of the cluster.

36. The computer program product according to claim 33, wherein, in the database, assuming that the value, k, for the k-anonymization is Y after a passage of a first predefined term X and the members of Z % leaves in each second predefined term, the required minimum number, N, is calculated based on the above mentioned X, Y and Z.

37. The computer program product according to claim 36, the required minimum number, N, is calculated according to the following equation: