Dynamic data anonymization using taint tracking

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium embodying a computer program for performing a method, said method comprising:

• receiving data from a database of a source;
• introducing taint information based upon the source by bundling metadata associated with the data in the database, wherein the taint information comprises,
• an attribute semantic, and
• a data object identifier comprising a row identifier of the database;
• storing the taint information;
• generating derived data from the data and propagating the taint information with the derived data;
• referencing the taint information to perform a security evaluation;
• where the security evaluation reveals the source to be a trusted source, flowing the data to a sensitive sink;
• and
• where the security evaluation reveals the source to be an untrusted source,
• considering the taint information to generate an anonymized data set including at least part of the data, according to an anonymization metric comprising a sensitive attribute and a quasi-identifier;
• storing the anonymized data set;
• and
• communicating the anonymized data set as output, wherein the anonymized data set includes at least a portion of the derived data.

A computer system comprising:

• one or more processors;
• a software program, executable on said computer system, the software program configured to cause an in-memory database engine to:
• receive data from a database of a source;
• introduce taint information based upon the source by bundling metadata associated with the data in the database, wherein the taint information comprises,
• an attribute semantic, and
• a data object identifier comprising a row identifier of the database;
• store the taint information in an in-memory database;
• generate derived data from the data and propagate the taint information with the derived data;
• referencing the taint information to perform a security evaluation;
• where the security evaluation reveals the source to be a trusted source, flow the data to a sensitive sink;
• and
• where the security evaluation reveals the source to be an untrusted source,
• consider the taint information to generate an anonymized data set including at least part of the data, according to an anonymization metric;
• store the anonymous data set in the in-memory database;
• and
• communicate the anonymized data set as output, wherein the anonymized data set includes at least a portion of the derived data.