De-identification

De-identification is the process of removing personally identifiable information such as names, social security numbers, and street addresses from records or a dataset. (See Further Resources below for information on other examples of personally identifiable information and protected health information.) De-identification is typically done when preparing data for sharing in order to help prevent others from identifying individuals based on their participation in a research study. Sharing health information publicly can cause harm to individuals, and patient information is protected by laws such as The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), making de-identification a very important step in preparing data for sharing.