Deanonymisation

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The process of revealing the true identity behind anonymised data, records, or a person who had previously been unidentified
2. Uncovering who is actually behind information that was stripped of identifying details, such as names or personal markers
3. Reversing the concealment of identity in a dataset or communication so that the individuals involved can be recognised again

Etymology: Deanonymisation is a plain technical formation: the prefix "de-" (removal or reversal), the noun "anonymity", and the suffix "-isation", which turns an action into a noun. "Anonymity" itself comes through French "anonymité" from Late Latin "anonymitas", which in turn comes from Greek "anōnymos", meaning "without a name". The "-isation" spelling is the British form of "-ization", and the compound's sense is simply the act of revealing who is behind something that was previously unnamed. The word is recent. It is first recorded in the late twentieth century, when the rise of computer networks and online pseudonyms made identifying anonymous users a practical concern, and it spread quickly in discussions of data privacy, where researchers use it for the process of linking supposedly anonymised records back to the individuals they describe. Its earliest uses are in technical and academic writing rather than general prose, and it is still most common in that setting.

Synonyms: unmasking, de-anonymization, identification

Antonyms: anonymisation, anonymization