Persoonattoman

Persoonattoman is a neologism used in Dutch-language discussions of privacy and digital identity. It describes a hypothetical or anonymized person whose identity is deliberately omitted from data records, in order to explore issues of data protection, accountability, and algorithmic fairness. In practice, the term is employed to discuss how systems treat individuals as data points or aggregates rather than as full persons, highlighting potential gaps between data processing and personhood.

Etymology and scope of use are not standardized. The term seems to combine persoon, meaning person, with a suffix that evokes automation or abstraction, but there is no fixed etymology. It is primarily found in informal writings, blogs, and online debates rather than in formal lexicons or technical standards, and its exact meaning can vary between authors.

Usage and examples: In privacy-by-design discussions, persoonattoman can help illustrate scenarios where personal attributes are generalized or suppressed. For instance, a predictive model that outputs risk categories without linking results to real identities exemplifies the concept. Conversely, critics use the term to point out the limits of de-identification, noting that anonymized data can still pose re-identification risks when combined with other information, thereby challenging the notion of a truly “anonymous” persoonattoman.

See also: anonymization, pseudonymization, data minimization, privacy-preserving technologies. Note that as a niche term, its interpretation differs across authors and contexts, and it may not appear in formal references or standardized glossaries.