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UK Wants To Criminalize Re-Identification of Anonymized User Data (bleepingcomputer.com)

An anonymous reader writes: European countries are currently implementing new data protection laws. Recently, despite leaving the European Union, the United Kingdom has expressed intent to implement the law called General Data Protection Regulation. As an extension, the UK wants to to ban re-identification (with a penalty of unlimited fines), the method of reversing anonymization, or pointing out the weakness of the used anonymisation process. One famous example was research re-identifying Netflix users from published datasets. By banning re-identification, UK follows the lead of Australia which is considering enacting similarly controversial law that can lead to making privacy research difficult or impossible. Privacy researchers express concerns about the effectiveness of the law that could even complicate security, a view shared by privacy advocates.

2 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. 'despite leaving the EU' by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    We haven't left yet. We won't leave til 2019 at the earliest.

  2. You can tell this is an American site by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    "Recently, despite leaving the European Union"

    Fucking ignoranace at the highest level