Data pseudonymization solution | Protect sensitive data with a GDPR-compliant data privacy technology

The value of data is undisputed, but enterprises aren’t using all theirs – especially when it contains sensitive information – for maximum advantage because of data privacy and security concerns. Even the most sophisticated enterprises have not resolved the tradeoff between data protection, which takes time and reduces accuracy, and data utility, which yields results but not without risks.

Governance policies, access controls, and encryption are necessary but don’t meet modern enterprise data management needs or compliance requirements because data must flow – across departments and around the globe – to truly create value. These realities require new safeguards to ensure data is protected at rest, in transit, and especially in use, when it’s decrypted and most vulnerable. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and other laws call for “Statutory Pseudonymization,” pseudonymization as specifically defined under these statutes, to protect data in use and prevent misuse.

Pseudo what?

First thing’s first. Let’s talk about how to pronounce it before we go into a deeper discussion about what pseudonymization is and why it’s important.

What is pseudonymization?

Pseudonymization is a data de-identification technique that replaces selected fields in a data record with artificial identifiers, or pseudonyms, to make the record less identifiable while still suitable for data processing and analysis. You can pseudonymize data in different ways. The traditional methods involve simple tokenization or masking, but they don’t satisfy the heightened GDPR requirements for pseudonymization. Statutory Pseudonymization, as defined by the GDPR,requires all five of these elements:

Protection of all data elements, including both direct and indirect identifiers.

Protection against singling-out attacks with either k-anonymity or aggregation.

Use of dynamism to ensure the use of different tokens at different times for different purposes and at different locations, so relinking is technologically prevented.

Inclusion of non-algorithmic lookup tables to account for the vulnerability of cryptographic techniques.

Controlled re-linkability to ensure source data is held separately by the data controller and available for relinking only for authorized purposes.

“Old” pseudonymization techniques enhance data privacy and security to an extent. But organizations relying on them don’t meet the regulatory requirements for processing data beyond a certain point, leaving them open to risks. In contrast,Statutory Pseudonymization not only makes organizations compliant with what is becoming the global de facto data protection standard, but it also gives them expanded processing rights because of the enhanced technical controls that flow with the data.

The benefits of Statutory Pseudonymization

Statutory Pseudonymization offers both legal and business benefits to enterprises that adopt it, and neither legal counsel/privacy teams nor data users have to make compromises. The solution supports data minimization and purpose limitation by enforcing data protection by design and default against internal and external threats, enabling even the most sensitive data – from personal data to trade secrets – to be used in creating more enterprise value. That’s a win-win for any organization that wants to expand and expedite its data-driven initiatives while reducing the associated risks of regulatory fines and loss of customer trust, brand equity and reputational integrity. Let’s look at the primary benefits of Statutory Pseudonymization through the eyes of its two key stakeholder groups.

Legal benefits of pseudonymization

Surveillance-proof processing

Transfer data assets internationally in compliance with Schrems II and the U.S. CLOUD Act.

Lawful processing

Overcome consent and contract limitations for lawful processing with legitimate interest for advanced analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).

Breach-, ransomware- and quantum-resistant data processing

De-risk data at rest and in use, with sensitive details obscured to reduce attack surface area.

Data supply chain defensibility

Everyone in the data supply chain is protected against joint and several liability for data sharing, combining and processing.

Business benefits of pseudonymization

Economies of scale

Leverage cloud-based infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offerings.

Faster project approvals

Reduce bottlenecks with scalable and predictable enforcement of pre-configured controls to increase access to approved data.

Expanded projects and supply chains

Use more approved data internally and/or share and combine datasets with third parties for advanced analytics, AI, ML, monetization, etc.

Speed to insight

Get the information needed to make the right decisions faster to support desired business outcomes.

Statutory Pseudonymization overcomes the limitations of other privacy-enhancing computation (PEC) techniques to reconcile the conflicts between data protection and utility.

Statutory Pseudonymization overcomes the limitations of other data protection techniques to reconcile the conflict between data protection and utility.

If Statutory Pseudonymization is so great, why isn’t it more common?

Change is hard, especially for government and industry because large organizations have lots of systems and processes that require adjustments when new technology is introduced. However, both regulators and consumers are requiring more data privacy, security and governance, with data-driven enterprises beginning to realize ROI from shifting to a more proactive data protection posture. While Statutory Pseudonymization is not a “silver bullet” or “golden shield” that solves all data protection problems, its advantages are significant. In addition to the benefits above, the solution doesn’t require additional processing speed, and it produces the same accuracy of results as processing equivalent cleartext. Only data with the embedded controls of Statutory Pseudonymization meets the highest lawful standards while enabling greater utility.

Why Anonos’ Data Embassy software for Statutory Pseudonymization?

Anonos is the only provider of data privacy and security software that includes Statutory Pseudonymization in its toolbox of data protection technologies. Our Data Embassy platform uses a unique combination of PEC techniques to de-risk data, so untapped sensitive assets can be processed and analyzed to unleash more potential and value.

The software transforms source data into Variant Twins, non-identifiable variations of digital twins engineered by privacy professionals and data teams for specific purposes. Because precise technical controls are embedded within them and continuously enforced, Variant Twins can travel everywhere – across departments, outside the enterprise, and around the globe.

Only Data Embassy provides full-spectrum, universal data protection with 100% accuracy compared to equivalent cleartext. With its implementation, organizations can increase cloud utilization, improve cybersecurity, and power a wide range of lawful use cases for faster speed to insight to achieve enterprise objectives.

Is your enterprise stuck in regulatory red tape?

Are you relying on outdated or insufficient data protection measures? Do you want to use more data to create more value sooner than later? You can protect your data and use it too, with Data Embassy that includes Statutory Pseudonymization.