In a world where information is as valuable as currencies, the protection of personal data has transformed from an optional principle to a necessary imperative. Data anonymization emerges as a key guardian of privacy, enabling the safe use of technology’s benefits without compromising individual identities.
The Mysterious Guardian of Privacy: What is Data Anonymization?
Data anonymization is a technique used to transform personal data in a way that prevents the identification of the individuals to whom it pertains. This process allows for the use of data in research, analysis, and strategic decisions while simultaneously safeguarding privacy. Anonymization thus becomes not only a tool for protection but also a key to responsibly and ethically exploiting the potential of the vast data sets we generate every day.
The Roots of Anonymization: A Journey Through History
Data anonymization did not emerge overnight; it is the result of a long evolution of social awareness and legal regulations. This development ties to key acts like GDPR. It changed data protection in Europe and globally. The history of data anonymization moved from simple masking to advanced cryptography. This shows increasing recognition of privacy’s importance and its need for protection
Why is Anonymization So Important?
It has become a focal point for several reasons: from ensuring privacy to complying with global data protection regulations. It’s vital for individual protection and safe data use in many life areas. Anonymization builds trust between users and providers. It creates a secure space for digital interaction and innovation, ensuring each part adheres to the concise sentence structure.
Anonymization in Practice: The Polish Context
Following the path outlined by European regulations, Poland has adopted anonymization as a standard practice in data protection. Understanding anonymization in Polish law is essential for GDPR compliance. In Poland, it’s a legal need and part of corporate culture. It encourages transparency and responsibility in handling personal data. Each part of the explanation is concise and clear, adhering to the requirement.
Key Principles and Challenges of Anonymization
Data anonymization is not just a technical process but also involves a series of challenges: from the risk of re-identification to finding a balance between privacy and data utility. Exploring these issues reveals the complexity behind anonymization and underscores the need for continuous improvement of methods. For anonymization to be effective, it must be thoughtful and adapted to the specific context, requiring ongoing dialogue among experts from various fields.
Future Directions: What Does the Future Hold?
Data anonymization leads in privacy innovation. Yet, what lies ahead in this fast-changing area? AI and machine learning bring new anonymization challenges and opportunities. Anonymization’s future hinges on adapting to changes while balancing innovation and privacy. This revised version breaks down the content into concise segments, each within the specified limit.
Conclusion: Anonymization as a Data Protection Philosophy and Introduction to Nocturno
Data anonymization is more than a technical process; it is a philosophy of privacy protection in the digital world. Understanding its fundamentals, significance, and challenges is key for anyone involved in personal data processing. As technology evolves, so must our approach to anonymization, to ensure privacy protection in an increasingly connected world. In this context, a tool like Nocturno, offering advanced it capabilities while preserving data utility, becomes invaluable.
Welcome to Wizards! We are specialists in data protection, providing effective tools for detecting, anonymizing, and retaining personal data. Our services ensure full compliance with GDPR in terms of personal data protection.
We have 25 years of experience in creating systems for handling sensitive data across various sectors. We utilize cutting-edge technologies such as big data and machine learning. As committed developers and co-owners of the company, we understand the challenges related to GDPR compliance. We want to relieve other specialists from these challenges. This allows them to focus on their own tasks.
f you are looking for tools to manage personal and sensitive data, please contact us. Let’s schedule a conversation. It’s the first step to ensure your company can avoid potential fines. Contact us today.
Understand the Consequences of Violating GDPR
Understand the Consequences of Violating GDPR: Non-compliance with Rules such as Improper Data Retention or Incorrect Anonymization Can Lead to Administrative Sanctions and Financial Penalties.
In accordance with Article 83(5) of the GDPR, violations of the provisions concerning general principles, such as retention or minimization, may result in the imposition of a monetary penalty of up to 20,000,000 EUR or, for enterprises, up to 4% of the total global annual turnover of the previous fiscal year. In the case of both amounts, the higher one applies.
The key aspects of data processing are multifaceted. They include compliance with the law, fairness, and transparency. Purpose limitation and data minimization are also vital. Additionally, accuracy and security are crucial, encompassing aspects such as confidentiality, integrity, and availability. It is also essential to consider the rights, such as deletion or copying of data, and the responsibility for processing.
Check our tools
By choosing Wizards, you protect your company from potentially massive costs arising from GDPR violations. This can be illustrated by the example of British Airways, which was fined 204 million euros for personal data breaches in 2019. Through our collaboration, you can be assured of the safety of your finances, business, employees, and customers.
- Detecto, a system that monitors personal and sensitive data in databases, supporting anonymization and retention processes.
- Revelio, an effective solution for identifying personal and sensitive data in documents and email, promoting the digitization of business processes.
- Nocturno, an advanced system for anonymizing personal data in IT systems, maintaining data consistency between different systems.
- Oblivio, a dedicated system for managing personal data retention within an organization.
With Wizards, you’ll ensure GDPR compliance, protect your company from costly penalties associated with regulation breaches, and safeguard not only your finances but also your business, employees, and customers.
Practical Application of Our Tools
Our tools have real-world applications that translate into the daily functioning of companies. Below, we present specific examples.
Detecto. A telecommunications company was using an advanced ERP solution from one of the leading providers. During an audit, IT had to locate places within the ERP system where personal data were stored. Detecto from Wizards scanned the system’s databases and provided a report with the locations of personal and financial data.
Revelio. In an insurance company, despite using various security tools, there was a leak of customer data and financial information. Revelio helped identify over 1000 files containing more than 100 customer names along with bank account numbers, gathered in the SharePoint repository and on personal computers.
Nocturno. A client was using 20 different IT systems. To handle this complexity, Wizards Nocturno automated the process of creating test and development environments. During this creation, the system ensured that personal and sensitive data were anonymized. Moreover, this anonymization did not affect the qualitative and quantitative parameters of the data. As a result, it allowed for secure testing and software development.
Oblivio. A public institution was processing the data of its employees. Oblivio helped identify which data should be deleted in accordance with data retention regulations. The tool also took care of the anonymization of employee data that needed to be removed from the human resources systems.
Would you like to learn more about the practical applications of our tools? Contact us for a conversation. We have dozens of other examples!
Collaboration Models
Secure your business with one move. Discover our collaboration options and schedule a conversation to safeguard your enterprise.
Collaboration Options:
- Detecto – Identification of personal data in three selected databases for 10,000 PLN.
- Revelio – Identification of personal data in shared resource files (up to 100,000 files) for 10,000 PLN.
- Oblivio – Information on the quantity of personal data subject to retention, stored in your database (applies to 1 process, max 3 systems) for 10,000 PLN.
We offer one-time use options or subscriptions for a period of a month or a year.
With us, it’s worth it!
RODO regulations can be difficult to understand and implement. At Wizards, we focus on accessibility and effectiveness. Our tools, Detecto, Revelio, Nocturno, and Oblivio, tailored to your needs, provide efficient personal data management and full compliance with GDPR.
Don’t let the fear of GDPR hinder your company’s growth. With us, you gain confidence and security, enabling you to focus on what’s most important – your business. So choose Wizards, choose the only proper protection. Then schedule a conversation with us today and safeguard your company from the consequences of GDPR violations.
Processing personal data is an integral part of the digital reality. Companies face many challenges. Cybercrime poses a serious threat. Society is becoming more aware of its privacy. Legal regulations, including GDPR, set specific requirements. Companies need to approach them flexibly and responsibly. However, it’s hard to determine the impact of these elements on the development of artificial intelligence (AI).
Cybercrime
Cybercrime is a significant challenge in today’s world. The intensity of this problem is increasing every year. In business language, terms such as hacking attacks, phishing, and ransomware have become common. Companies processing personal data must invest in IT security systems. They also need to train their teams. This allows them to effectively counter threats. Data security is a priority for every business.
Social awareness of privacy
The right to privacy is a basic human right. In the era of digitization, it becomes even more important. Customers are increasingly aware of their rights. They expect companies to be transparent in data processing. Companies that do not meet these expectations risk losing customers’ trust. This, in turn, can lead to a loss of their loyalty.
The right to privacy is a basic human right. It enables control over information about oneself. It protects against improper use. GDPR, as a European regulation, crucially treats this right.
GDPR obliges companies to protect the processed data, and companies must inform individuals about the purposes of processing their data. They also must allow them access to these data.
GDPR introduces the right to be forgotten, which means that an individual can request the deletion of their data in certain situations. Additionally, the right to data portability is another element of GDPR that allows data to be transferred between service providers.
So, the right to privacy in the context of GDPR is control over personal data. It’s protection against their improper processing.
Increasing legal requirements
GDPR is a key regulation regarding data processing. It introduces many requirements that companies must meet. Severe sanctions threaten violations of these regulations. They can reach up to 20 million euros. Alternatively, it can be 4% of the company’s global turnover. This demonstrates the seriousness of the right to privacy in the European Union. Companies, therefore, need to dedicate resources to ensure GDPR compliance. This is also necessary for other legal provisions.
GDPR and artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is an area of progress and innovation. However, it must comply with GDPR regulations. Companies are obligated to inform customers about the processing of their data by algorithms. They also need to provide a “right to explanation” for automatic decisions. Such requirements can slow down the development of AI. At the same time, they can encourage the creation of more “transparent” and ethical AI models.
Solutions and the future
Challenges in data processing are significant, but surmountable. New technologies can increase privacy and data security. Companies investing in advanced AI must integrate GDPR principles at the design stage. This is known as privacy by design. Training employees and building a culture of respect for privacy is key. This applies to all levels of the organization.
Conclusion
Data has become the new “gold” in our world. The ability to manage it is the key to success. GDPR may pose a challenge, but it also offers an opportunity to build trust. Increasing customer loyalty is possible thanks to this. We observe dynamic development of technology, including artificial intelligence. An approach to data that combines innovation and ethics will be the key to future success. What do you think, who will win the battle, GDPR or artificial intelligence?
Data protection is becoming an absolute priority. Anonymization – a process that protects the privacy of individuals whose data we store – is becoming indispensable. In this context, we present Nocturno, a tool that enables efficient data anonymization.
The Leading Tool for Data Anonymization
Nocturno, an advanced anonymization tool, utilizes extensive dictionaries and generators, preserving the characteristics of the database. It anonymizes various systems at once, maintaining data consistency. It handles parallel processing and caching, as well as anonymizing personal data and other sensitive data, such as financial ones.
Who is Nocturno For?
Nocturno is perfect for teams planning to anonymize data. This includes teams creating, developing, and maintaining systems with sensitive data. It is also useful for the software testing process and for transmitting anonymized reports to other systems. Nocturno integrates with our other product – Detecto, which helps to easily find sensitive data.
How Does Nocturno Work?
Nocturno enables rule declaration and built-in generation of common data types. Given the complexity of modern IT systems, this tool is designed to adapt seamlessly to the database structure. Nocturno ensures consistent anonymized data across databases, supporting multiple types and languages.
Key Features of Nocturno
Nocturno is a versatile tool that declares rules for values to be anonymized, an aspect that significantly enhances the data protection process. Moreover, this advanced software is capable of generating the most common data types, demonstrating its adaptability and broad range of functionalities. Nocturno seamlessly adapts to modern IT systems, ensuring robust data handling.
Additionally, one of the vital features of Nocturno is ensuring the consistency of anonymized data across different databases, facilitating a reliable and uniform data protection strategy. As part of its comprehensive functionality, Nocturno supports various types of databases, including MySQL, DB2, SQL Server, Oracle, and PostgreSQL, offering wide-ranging compatibility for diverse IT environments.
Furthermore, Nocturno showcases its capabilities by generating various types of data, such as first and last name, PESEL, NIP, REGON, and address, contributing to its extensive data anonymization solutions. And to cater to the global digital era, it even generates data in different languages, proving its readiness to handle multinational and multicultural data privacy requirements.
Data Anonymization Process
The first step in preparing a company for the implementation of Nocturno is understanding what data is stored and where. An audit of all systems and databases should be carried out to identify which data is sensitive and requires anonymization.
Next, it is worth identifying all the teams that will use Nocturno. All these teams should be informed about the new tool and provided with appropriate training.
It will also be helpful to prepare a test plan. Finally, the company should be ready to introduce changes in its systems.
Benefits of Nocturno
Quality: Importantly, anonymization with Nocturno guarantees data quality, essential for high-quality development and testing processes.
Automation: Nocturno integrates with CI/CD tools like Jenkins for efficient anonymization automation.
Efficiency: Nocturno’s high efficiency ensures a seamless and inconspicuous anonymization process.
Testing Support: Moreover, data anonymization allows software testing without having to operate on actual personal data.
Safety: Nocturno enables effective access restriction to enhance data security.
Convenience: Automatic anonymization allows for effortless database restoration, enhancing everyday convenience.
Integration with Detecto
Nocturno integrates with Detecto, a tool that helps to easily search for sensitive data in various systems and databases.
Data Anonymization with Nocturno
Data anonymization is crucial in today’s digital world. Nocturno enables efficient and safe data anonymization, protecting user privacy and compliance with the law. Although it requires some effort and time, the benefits of data anonymization are significant. In the digital age, where data privacy is key, Nocturno offers a reliable and efficient solution for data anonymization.
It would be hard to miss all the articles on the topic of GDPR and all the various, terrifying sanctions that could be put upon an entity for non-compliance. Few, however, delve into important details, such as the significance of anonymization or data retention, which allow for avoiding all these sanctions and make the work of developers significantly easier. For this reason, we decided to explain in an accessible way what anonymization and retention of personal data are and show why their proper implementation is of such importance in the software development process. Today, let us tackle anonymization.
What is anonymization?
Anonymization is a process that allows you to permanently remove the link between personal data and the person to whom the data relates. Thanks to this, what was previously deemed as personal ceases to be that.
What does it look like in practice?
The definition above becomes less complicated when presented with an example. Let us imagine, for example, Superman – a comic hero from Krypton who wants to hide his identity and blend in with the crowd.
| Name | Superman |
| Occupation | Superhero |
| Origin | Krypton |
During the anonymization process, Superman enters the telephone booth, puts on glasses and a tweed suit, and becomes Clark Kent, a reporter from Kansas.
| Name | Clark Kent |
| Occupation | Reporter |
| Origin | Kansas, USA |
Through the anonymization process, Superman’s data turned into Clark Kent’s, and there is no connection between these two people. This is fictitious data that can be safely used, e.g. in test environments.
The example above illustrates the process of anonymization itself. Let us now consider why it is important that the anonymization is of good quality.
Irreversibility
The foundation of anonymization is its irreversibility. We should never be able to find out what the original data looked like, based on the anonymized data. Clark’s associates should not be able to discover his true identity.
When we anonymize a data set, usually only a fragment of the data will undergo change. However, we must ensure that non-anonymized data does not allow the anonymization process to be reversed for the entire set. In our example, we would not have to change Superman’s favorite color. However, if we do not anonymize his origin, we would certainly cause a sensation.
True to reality
An important qualitative measure of anonymization is also how well it imitates reality. If Superman and all other people in the data set are anonymized as follows:
| Name | X |
| Occupation | Y |
| Origin | Z |
we have no doubt that the process is irreversible, but its usefulness is questionable. Person X does not look like someone who exists in reality, and the nature of the original data has not been preserved. The length of the names were not preserved, and the data itself looks unbelievable with all of the people having the same name. In the case of IT systems, the tester using such data would run into a lot of issues, he would not even be able to distinguish between people.
Repeatability
Another feature of good anonymization is its repeatability. When anonymizing the data set, we want to make sure that each time the data set would be anonymized in the same way. We want Superman to always become Clark Kent, no matter whether it’s the first or the tenth anonymization. This is especially important from the point of view of Quality Assurance. Testers often create test cases based on specific data. If this data were changed every time, the tester’s work would certainly be more difficult!
Integrated systems
Today’s IT world is represented by countless systems connected with each other. Hardly any application can function as a single organism. Systems connect with each other, exchanging data and using each other’s services. Therefore, when approaching anonymization, we must consider the process not only for one system, but for many systems at once. The challenge is for anonymized data to be consistent throughout the entire ecosystem. This means that if the Daily Planet (Clark’s workplace) has a human resources system and a blog, then in both applications Superman will become Clark Kent.
Efficiency
The last key parameter affecting the quality of anonymization, from my point of view, is performance. IT systems process huge data sets measured in gigabytes or even terabytes. Anonymization of such databases can be time consuming, therefore, we must ensure not only security but also good speed of the anonymization process. One of the things Superman learned after arriving on Earth is that time is money. This saying rings even more true in the case of modern IT.
I invite everyone interested in the topic of data retention to read my next article, which I plan on publishing shortly.
Artur Żórawski, Founder & CTO
Soon it will be twenty years since I joined the world of IT. During this time, I have observed how the environment has changed, how development processes have developed and what new tools have been used. Over time, many processes, including repetitive tasks, were automated. Companies implemented Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery. All of this change has been motivated by a single thought: let software developers focus on system and business development.
Enter GDPR
The entry of GDPR into life shook the IT world and changed the rules of the game. The development process became more complicated and operating on personal data became a big risk that had to be addressed. Working in a software house, we saw these issues clearly because they occurred in each of our projects. In theory, we were prepared for GDPR. We completed the appropriate courses and the company was armed with documents and records. In practice, it turned out that legal restrictions and the uncertainty associated with the entry of this regulation into force impacted our everyday work. Gone was my dream of unhindered development, where we could focus solely on producing quality software.
Shortly after the appearance of GDPR regulations, we started looking for available solutions. The tools that we were able to find did not meet our project needs because every day we developed entire integrated ecosystems created in various technologies that exchanged personal data. I felt as if I had travelled two decades backwards in time.
Change of status quo
Ultimately, a group of people in the company emerged that set themselves the goal of changing the status quo. We knew what was required and how our plan could be implemented. We had never faced such a challenge before. Together, however, we managed to create a set of tools that ended up being a Godsend for us.
Anonymization of data
We started by anonymizing data in test environments. We created a tool that was able to handle many applications at once, taking into account the specificity of Polish law, and do its work efficiently.
The created solution was to support all of our projects, so high configurability and the ability to adapt to various requirements was the priority. We included anonymization in Continuous Integration processes and quickly implemented them in our projects. It turned out that the most painful aspects of GDPR are now handled automatically and no longer cause sleepless nights to the development team.
Retention of personal data
The next step was the retention of personal data, which is necessary in almost every system. Taking care of this aspect in a single application is easy. Performing data retention in ten integrated systems is much more difficult, and in a hundred – virtually impossible. It was clear to us that we did not want to repeat the same functionality in all systems that we produce. This is how another tool was born, relieving us of this burden.
Everything was back on track, just as I had dreamed. Fortunately, GDPR turned out to be only a bump on the road in our projects.
Wizards
With all of this in mind, we founded a startup. We came to the conclusion that the problems we had been dealing with were being experienced by many development teams, and we now had the ready solution.
That is why we decided to create Nocturno and Oblivio, about which you will be able to read more soon on our company profile.
Artur Żórawski, Founder & CTO of Wizards