Privacy protection-type data providing system

A control method for an information providing apparatus connected to a plurality of first user terminals and a plurality of second user terminals, wherein the control method for the information providing apparatus includes applying anonymization processing, which is executed by designating a parameter and which is processing for converting data so that an individual is not identified, onto data including personal information collected from the plurality of first user terminals, and distributing anonymized data generated as a result of application of the anonymization processing to the second user terminal in response to a request from the second user terminal,

• wherein the control method of the information providing apparatus includes storing:
• data including the personal information;
• first information specifying the parameter of the anonymized data which are allowed to be provided, for each piece of data of an individual who is an owner of the personal information;
• second information specifying the personal information which is a target to which the anonymization processing is applied;
• third information specifying a level of reliability for each user who receives the provided anonymized data via the second user terminal;
• and
• fourth information specifying the parameter of the anonymized data which the user having the reliability can receive in accordance with the level of the reliability, and
• the control method of the information providing apparatus includes:
• extracting data which are to be allowed to be provided from among the data for each of a plurality of predetermined parameters on the basis of the first information, identifying personal information which is a target of the anonymization processing from among personal information of the extracted data on the basis of the second information, and executing anonymization processing on the identified personal information with each of the plurality of predetermined parameters, thus generating a plurality of anonymized data of which amounts of information are different;
• and
• identifying the level of the reliability of the user of the second user terminal on the basis of the third information in response to a request from the second user terminal, and identifying anonymized data that can be distributed to the second user terminal from among the plurality of anonymized data on the basis of the fourth information and the level of the reliability identified.