veiledede

Veiledede is a neologism used in discussions of privacy and data protection to describe the deliberate concealment or partial disclosure of information within digital systems. It refers to both the act of masking data elements and the resulting state in which certain attributes or features are selectively hidden. The term is not part of an official standard and its precise meaning varies by context.

Etymology: The word blends veiled with a generic technical suffix, and it has circulated mainly in online privacy discussions rather than formal literature.

Concept and scope: Veiledede is used to distinguish partial data masking from full anonymization. It implies controlled disclosure: some attributes may be exposed under defined rules while others remain hidden, in both user interfaces and data pipelines.

Applications and examples: In social platforms, veiledede could mean showing limited profile data. In datasets, fields may be redacted or perturbed; in AI training, sensitive attributes may be masked to limit leakage.

Relation to privacy concepts: Veiledede sits between data minimization, pseudonymization, and differential privacy. It is not a formal standard, and implementations vary. Critics warn that partial masking can create a misleading sense of security if governance is weak.

See also: Data masking, Pseudonymization, Differential privacy, Privacy by design.