This topic contains 1 reply, has 2 voices, and was last updated by Ed Bradford 10 years, 6 months ago.
-
Prohibit cross-referencing to identify individuals from online databases
Started by Greg Abbott
Prohibit the use of cross-referencing techniques to identify individuals whose data is used as a larger set of information in an online database.
Both public and private sources keep personal information data online. Although this data is typically “de-identified” by removing or withholding personal information in order to maintain anonymity, many experts believe that re-identification, which involves identifying real people from anonymous databases by cross-referencing information in the data tables, is not particularly difficult. Currently, Texas Health and Safety Code Section 181.151 prohibits re-identification or attempted re-identification of protected health information. This regulation from the Texas Medical Privacy Act is even more expansive than the prohibitions laid out in the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which allows re-identification of protected health information in some circumstances. Texas takes the privacy of medical records seriously, and the same provisions should be extended to non-medical records. Establishing such a prohibition is a common-sense strategy that will bolster the protection of private information maintained in online databases.
For instance, in 2006 Netflix released movie rankings from their subscribers. Names of users were removed, but researchers from the University of Texas were able to re-identify those users simply by cross-referencing profiles of public rankings on Internet Movie Database (IMDb).
The Texas Penal Code should be amended with a new chapter governing the re-identification of personal data, which is intended to remain anonymous. The benefit of this recommendation is to provide a clear, codified, prohibition on improperly identifying individuals whose data is used as a larger set of information. It places a heightened emphasis on protecting privacy.
You will need to login to join the discussion.1RepliesEd Bradford, 11 years ago
I think this post does not comprehend the availability and access to such data. If Google and Amazon can do it, why prevent government from doing it. The real question is how to protect privacy. I have no solution. Therefore, my recommendation to all is
EVERYTHING YOU WRITE ON THE INTERNET CAN AND VERY WELL, MIGHT SHOW UP IN THE New York Times.
Don’t put anything on the internet or air waves (email, text msg, telephone call, …) that will incriminate you. Our Federal Government has
no morality as witnessed by Lois Lerner and the IRS. There is nothing we can do to prevent Lois Lerner from informing her superiors in an attempt to get more power or money. NOTHING! (Lerner, Snowden, Manning, …)
