De-anonymization of health data: a survey of practical attacks, vulnerabilities and challenges

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dc.contributor.authorAguelal , Hamzaen
dc.contributor.authorPalmieri, Paoloen
dc.contributor.funderResearch Irelanden
dc.date.accessioned2025-05-22T13:26:59Z
dc.date.available2025-05-22T13:26:59Z
dc.date.issued2025en
dc.description.abstractHealth data ranks among the most sensitive personal information disclosing serious details about individuals. Although anonymization is used, vulnerabilities persist, leading to de-anonymization and privacy risks highlighted by regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This survey examines de-anonymization attacks on health datasets, focusing on methodologies employed, data targeted, and the effectiveness of current anonymization practices. Unlike previous surveys that lack consensus on essential empirical questions, we provide a comprehensive summary of practical attacks, offering a more logical perspective on real-world risk. Our investigation systematically categorizes these practical attacks, revealing insights into suc cess rates, generality and reproducibility, new analytics used, and the specific vulnerabilities they exploit. The study covers health-related datasets, including medical records, genomic data, electrocardiograms (ECGs), and neuroimaging, highlighting the need for more robust anonymization. Significant challenges remain in the literature despite existing reviews. We advocate for stronger data safeness by improving anonymization methods and advancing research on de-anonymization and assessment within healthcare.en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionPublished Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationAguelal, H. and Palmieri, P. (2025) 'De-anonymization of health data: a survey of practical attacks, vulnerabilities and challenges', Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy (ICISSP 2025), Porto, Portugal, 20-22 February, Volume 2, pp. 595-606. https://doi.org/10.5220/0013274200003899en
dc.identifier.doi10.5220/0013274200003899en
dc.identifier.endpage606en
dc.identifier.isbn978-989-758-735-1en
dc.identifier.issn2184-4356en
dc.identifier.startpage595en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/17565
dc.identifier.volume2en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherSCITEPRESSen
dc.relation.ispartof11th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy (ICISSP 2025), Porto, Portugal, 20-22 February 2025.en
dc.relation.projectinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/SFI/Centres for Research Training (CRT) Programme/18/CRT/6222/IE/SFI Centre for Research Training in Advanced Networks for Sustainable Societies/en
dc.rights© 2025, the Authors. Published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). Proceedings © 2025 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda.en
dc.rights.urihttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/en
dc.subjectHealth dataen
dc.subjectAnonymizationen
dc.subjectDe-anonymization attacksen
dc.titleDe-anonymization of health data: a survey of practical attacks, vulnerabilities and challengesen
dc.typeConference itemen
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