Asymmetric journalist risk model of data re-identification

A system to of lower a risk of re-identification of one or more of a plurality of members of a cohort, the system comprising:

• providing a processor configured to:
• receive a request for anonymized data comprising a subset of the plurality of members of the cohort having one or more requested traits;
• form a dataset of a plurality of anonymized cohort records describing the members of the cohort having the one or more requested traits;
• determine one or more quasi-identifiers of the plurality of members in the dataset and a measure of risk of re-identification to be assessed for the dataset, the one or more quasi-identifiers comprise any of
• public quasi-identifiers known from public sources, and
• acquaintance quasi-identifiers known from private sources related to the plurality of members in the dataset;
• calculate a risk of re-identification of the one or more of the plurality of members of the cohort included in the dataset based upon the one or more quasi-identifiers and the determined measure of risk of re-identification;
• compare the calculated risk of re-identification to a predetermined threshold;
• lower the risk of re-identification below the predetermined threshold, without degrading the selected anonymized data, when the calculated risk of re-identification exceeds the predetermined threshold;
• and
• provide the anonymized dataset in response to the request.