Anonymisoitunut

Anonymisoitunut is a Finnish adjective used to describe data, information, or records from which all identifying information has been removed or altered in a way that makes individuals no longer identifiable. The term comes from the verb anonymisoida (to anonymize) with the past participle suffix -oitunut, indicating that the process of anonymization has been completed.

In practice, anonymisoitu data is intended to prevent re-identification, even when combined with other available information. The concept is central to privacy protection in research, statistics, and data sharing. An important distinction is between anonymization and pseudonymization: anonymisoitu data is not supposed to be re-identifiable, whereas pseudonymisoitu data replaces direct identifiers with pseudonyms but can be re-identified if additional information is accessible.

Methods used to achieve anonymisoitum include removing or masking direct identifiers (such as names, personal codes, and addresses), generalizing values (for example, replacing exact ages with age ranges), aggregating data, and applying noise or perturbation. More advanced techniques cited in privacy literature include k-anonymity, l-diversity, and differential privacy, which aim to balance data utility with re-identification risk.

Legally and ethically, truly anonymized data may fall outside the scope of data protection regulations like the EU General Data Protection Regulation, since individuals can no longer be identified. However, the risk of re-identification can never be absolutely eliminated, especially when anonymized data are linked with other datasets.

Used contexts for anonymisoitunut data include public statistics, medical and social research, and open data initiatives. The term emphasizes that the data have undergone a process to remove personal identifiers and reduce privacy risks.