Anonymized Data May not be Anonymous
Jackie here. When you swipe that credit card, what information are you giving away? A recent study suggests that consumers are likely sharing more information than they intend. The study used anonymized credit card data to pinpoint particular purchasers, turning private purchases into public knowledge.
With just four purchases (an amount easily made within one day: your morning coffee, your grocery store run, lunch, and a gas station fill up), researchers were able to identify consumers from anonymized data with 90% accuracy. If prices were included, only three transactions were needed.
What does this mean for you?
Quite simply, it means that it might be easier to identify you by seemingly random purchases than many originally thought. Companies often share anonymized data with outsiders. Consumers aren’t typically concerned as the data shouldn’t be able to tie directly to them. This study suggests that a little more caution may be needed.