Information processing apparatus

Abstract

To detect the occurrence of a situation where an individual may be specified from information not recognized as individual information.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus comprises: specification means that specifies the number of persons belonging to each of a plurality of groups that are defined by the combination of two or more elements of a plurality of elements corresponding respectively to a plurality of types of items that are registered in a database for every person; determination means that determines whether or not there is a group in which the specified number of people is equal to or less than a predetermined value; and warning means that issues a warning when there is the group in which the specified number of people is equal to or less than the predetermined value.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of information processing devices. [Background technology]

[0002] As an example of a technique used in this type of device, a technique has been proposed in which an address information abstraction process is added to conceal personal information (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5382599 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] For example, if depopulation progresses in a region, it may become possible to identify individuals from information that is not recognized as personal information.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and has an objective of providing an information processing device that can detect a situation in which an individual may be identified from information that is not recognized as personal information. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An information processing device according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises an identification means for identifying the number of people belonging to each of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of two or more elements out of a plurality of elements corresponding to a plurality of types of items, which are registered for each person in a database, a determination means for determining whether or not there is a group in which the number of the identified people is below a predetermined value, and a warning means for issuing a warning if there is a group in which the number of the identified people is below the predetermined value. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information processing device according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a database. [Diagram 3] 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information processing device according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another example of the database. [Diagram 5] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another example of the database. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] An embodiment of an information processing device will be described with reference to Fig. 1 to Fig. 5. In Fig. 1, the information processing device 1 includes a calculation device 10, a storage device 20, a communication device 30, an input device 40, and an output device 50. The information processing device 1 does not need to include at least one of the input device 40 and the output device 50. The calculation device 10, the storage device 20, the communication device 30, the input device 40, and the output device 50 may be connected via a data bus 60.

[0009] The arithmetic device 10 may include, for example, at least one of a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).

[0010] The storage device 20 may include, for example, at least one of a random access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM), a hard disk device, a magneto-optical disk device, a solid state drive (SSD), and an optical disk array.

[0011] The communication device 30 may be configured to be able to communicate with devices external to the information processing device 1. The communication device 30 may perform wired communication or wireless communication.

[0012] The input device 40 is a device capable of accepting information input to the information processing device 1 from the outside. The input device 40 may include an operation device (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, etc.) that can be operated by an operator of the information processing device 1. The input device 40 may include a recording medium reading device capable of reading information recorded on a recording medium that is detachable from the information processing device 1, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB) memory. Note that when information is input to the information processing device 1 via the communication device 30 (in other words, when the information processing device 1 obtains information via the communication device 30), the communication device 30 may function as an input device.

[0013] The output device 50 is a device capable of outputting information to the outside of the information processing device 1. The output device 50 may output visual information such as characters and images, auditory information such as voice, or tactile information such as vibration, as the above information. The output device 50 may include at least one of a display, a speaker, a printer, and a vibration motor, for example. The output device 50 may be capable of outputting information to a recording medium that is detachable from the information processing device 1, such as a USB memory. When the information processing device 1 outputs information via the communication device 30, the communication device 30 may function as an output device.

[0014] The arithmetic device 10 has the identification unit 11, the determination unit 12, the warning unit 13, and the proposal unit 14 as logically realized functional blocks or as physically realized processing circuits. For example, at least one of the identification unit 11, the determination unit 12, the warning unit 13, and the proposal unit 14 may be realized in a form in which a logical functional block and a physical processing circuit (i.e., hardware) are mixed. When at least a part of the identification unit 11, the determination unit 12, the warning unit 13, and the proposal unit 14 is realized as a functional block, at least a part of the identification unit 11, the determination unit 12, the warning unit 13, and the proposal unit 14 may be realized by the arithmetic device 10 executing a predetermined computer program.

[0015] The arithmetic device 10 may acquire the predetermined computer program from the storage device 20. The arithmetic device 10 may read the predetermined computer program stored in a computer-readable and non-transient recording medium using a recording medium reading device (not shown) included in the information processing device 1. The arithmetic device 10 may acquire the predetermined computer program from a device (not shown) external to the information processing device 1 via the communication device 30.

[0016] The storage device 20 may temporarily store a computer program executed by the arithmetic device 10. The storage device 20 may temporarily store data that is temporarily used by the arithmetic device 10 when the arithmetic device 10 is executing a computer program.

[0017] For example, confidential information may be anonymized before data analysis, and services may be created and improved based on the results of the data analysis. Specific examples of anonymization include removing names and personal identification codes, removing house numbers from addresses, removing days or months from dates of birth, replacing ages with age groups, etc.

[0018] An example of a database including anonymized data is shown in FIG. 2. The database 200 shown in FIG. 2 may be stored in the storage device 20 of the information processing device 1. The database 200 may be stored in a device different from the information processing device 1. The numerical values ​​in the leftmost column of the database 200 are convenient numerical values ​​for identifying a person. The database 200 may not include the numerical values ​​in the leftmost column. When the "prefectures" included in the database 200 are referred to as the first administrative division, the "cities, wards, towns, and villages" may be referred to as the second administrative division smaller than the first division. The database 200 may include other items such as, for example, "private car," "vehicle type," and "car sharing / rental use" in addition to "gender," "age group," "prefectures," and "cities, wards, towns, and villages."

[0019] Even if the data is anonymized as described above, there is a possibility that an individual can be identified from the anonymized data due to, for example, the progression of depopulation in the area. In other words, there is a possibility that an individual can be identified from information that is not recognized as personal information. For example, if there is only one person who corresponds to a male aged 20-29 living in XX city, XX prefecture, the individual can be identified from the data contained in the database 200.

[0020] In consideration of the above circumstances, the identification unit 11 of the information processing device 1 identifies the number of people belonging to each of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of two or more elements among a plurality of elements corresponding to a plurality of types of items (e.g., gender, age group, prefecture, city, ward, town, village) based on the database 200. For example, the identification unit 11 may identify the number of people belonging to each of the groups "male, 20-29 years old, and XXX city, XXX prefecture" and "female, 40-49 years old, and XX city, XX prefecture."

[0021] The determination unit 12 determines whether or not a group exists in which the number of people identified by the identification unit 11 is equal to or less than a predetermined value. In other words, the determination unit 12 determines whether or not a group exists in which the number of people is equal to or less than a predetermined value. When the determination unit 12 determines that a group in which the number of people is equal to or less than a predetermined value exists, the warning unit 13 issues a warning. For example, the warning unit 13 may issue a warning indicating that an individual may be identified from the database 200 related to anonymized data. For example, the warning unit 13 may control the output device 50 to output at least one of a warning sound and a warning screen. For example, the warning unit 13 may send a warning email to a specific person (for example, a data administrator).

[0022] The "predetermined value" is a value that determines whether or not to issue a warning. The predetermined value may be a fixed value determined in advance. The predetermined value may also be a variable value according to some parameter. As described above, the warning unit 13 may issue a warning indicating that an individual may be identified from the database 200, for example. For this reason, the predetermined value may be set as the number of people belonging to one group who are estimated to be individuals who may be identified from the database 200.

[0023] When the determination unit 12 determines that there is a group in which the number of people is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the suggestion unit 14 proposes anonymization of the database 200 so as to reduce the possibility that an individual is identified from the database 200. Specific examples of suggestions by the suggestion unit 14 will be described later.

[0024] Next, the operation of the information processing device 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 3. In Fig. 3, the identification unit 11 identifies the number of people belonging to each of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of two or more elements among a plurality of elements corresponding to a plurality of types of items, based on the database 200 (step S101). The determination unit 12 determines whether or not there is a group in which the number of people is equal to or less than a predetermined value (step S102).

[0025] In the process of step S102, if it is determined that there is no group in which the number of people is equal to or less than the predetermined value (step S102: No), the operation shown in Fig. 3 is terminated. On the other hand, in the process of step S102, if it is determined that there is a group in which the number of people is equal to or less than the predetermined value (step S102: Yes), the warning unit 103 issues a warning (step S103). The suggestion unit 14 makes a suggestion for anonymization of the database 200 (step S104).

[0026] The operation shown in the flowchart of Fig. 3 may be performed at the timing when the database 200 is updated. In this case, when the database 200 is updated, the identification unit 11 may identify the number of people belonging to each of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of two or more elements among a plurality of elements corresponding to a plurality of types of items. At least one of the identification unit 11, the determination unit 12, the warning unit 13, and the proposal unit 14 may include a trained model constructed by machine learning. In other words, the operation of at least one of the identification unit 11, the determination unit 12, the warning unit 13, and the proposal unit 14 may be performed based on the output of the trained model.

[0027] Next, a specific example of a proposal by the proposing unit 14 will be described. For example, the proposing unit 14 may propose the deletion of an element corresponding to the gender of a person belonging to a group in which the number of people is equal to or less than a predetermined value. For example, the predetermined value is assumed to be "1". If there is one person corresponding to a woman aged 40-49 residing in XXX City, XX Prefecture, included in the database 200, the number of people belonging to the group "female, aged 40-49, and XXX City, XX Prefecture" is "1". In this case, the proposing unit 14 may propose the deletion of an element (i.e., "female") corresponding to the gender of the person "0003" included in the database 200. As a result, the person "0003" does not belong to the group "female, aged 40-49, and XXX City, XX Prefecture". On the other hand, the person "0003" belongs to the group "aged 40-49, and XXX City, XX Prefecture".

[0028] For example, if an element corresponding to the gender of the person “0003” (i.e., “female”) is deleted according to the proposal of the proposing unit 14, the database 200 will include a male aged 40-49 residing in XXX City, XX Prefecture (e.g., person “0004”) and a person of unknown gender aged 40-49 residing in XXX City, XX Prefecture. In this case, a person browsing the database 200 can easily infer that a “person of unknown gender aged 40-49 residing in XXX City, XX Prefecture” is a “woman aged 40-49 residing in XXX City, XX Prefecture”. Therefore, the proposing unit 14 may propose the deletion of an element corresponding to the gender of a person (e.g., person “0003” and person “0004”) belonging to a group of “40-49 years old and XXX City, XX Prefecture”. As a result, the database 200 may be changed to a database 200a shown in FIG. 4. The suggestion unit 14 may suggest deleting the column of gender included in the database 200.

[0029] For example, the suggestion unit 14 may propose the deletion of an element corresponding to a city, ward, town, or village related to a person who belongs to a group in which the number of people is equal to or less than a predetermined value. For example, the above-mentioned predetermined value is assumed to be "1". In the case where there is one person corresponding to a woman aged 20-29 residing in XX City, XX Prefecture, included in the database 200, the number of people belonging to the group "female, aged 20-29, and XX City, XX Prefecture" is "1". In this case, the suggestion unit 14 may propose the deletion of an element corresponding to the city, ward, town, or village of the person "0005" included in the database 200 (i.e., "XX City"). As a result, the person "0005" does not belong to the group "female, aged 20-29, and XX City, XX Prefecture". On the other hand, the person "0005" belongs to the group "female, aged 20-29, and XX Prefecture". In this case, the database 200 may be changed to the database 200b shown in FIG. 5.

[0030] For example, the suggestion unit 14 may suggest an age group interval such that the number of people belonging to each of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of two or more elements among a plurality of elements corresponding to a plurality of types of items is greater than the above-mentioned predetermined value. In the database 200, the age group interval is 10 years. For example, the suggestion unit 14 may suggest that the age group interval be set to 20 years.

[0031] The suggestion unit 14 may perform at least two of the following: a proposal to delete an element corresponding to the gender of a person who belongs to a group in which the number of people is equal to or less than a predetermined value; a proposal to delete an element corresponding to the city, ward, town, or village of a person who belongs to a group in which the number of people is equal to or less than a predetermined value; and a proposal of an interval of an age group such that the number of people belonging to each of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of two or more elements out of a plurality of elements corresponding to a plurality of types of items is greater than the above-mentioned predetermined value. That is, the suggestion unit 14 may perform, for example, a proposal to delete a plurality of elements corresponding to the gender and the city, ward, town, or village of a person who belongs to a group in which the number of people is equal to or less than a predetermined value. The suggestion unit 14 may perform, for example, a proposal to delete an element corresponding to the gender of a person who belongs to a group in which the number of people is equal to or less than a predetermined value; and a proposal of an interval of an age group such that the number of people belonging to each of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of two or more elements out of a plurality of elements corresponding to a plurality of types of items is greater than the above-mentioned predetermined value. The suggestion unit 14 may, for example, suggest deleting a plurality of elements corresponding to the gender and city / ward / town / village of a person who belongs to a group in which the number of people is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and may also suggest age intervals such that the number of people belonging to each of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of two or more elements among a plurality of elements corresponding to a plurality of types of items will be greater than the above-mentioned predetermined value.

[0032] The suggestion unit 14 may determine the content of the suggestion based on the purpose of the database 200. For example, the database 200 is a database related to the purchase of automobiles. The database 200 is used to analyze automobile purchasing trends by age group. In this case, the suggestion unit 14 may, for example, suggest the deletion of an element corresponding to the gender of a person who belongs to a group in which the number of people is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and / or suggest the deletion of an element corresponding to the city, ward, town, or village of a person who belongs to a group in which the number of people is equal to or less than a predetermined value. On the other hand, the suggestion unit 14 may not suggest an interval of age groups such that the number of people belonging to each of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of two or more elements among a plurality of elements corresponding to each of a plurality of types of items is greater than the above-mentioned predetermined value.

[0033] For example, the database 200 is a database related to the use of car sharing. The database 200 is used to analyze the use trend of car sharing for each region. In this case, the suggestion unit 14 may, for example, propose the deletion of an element corresponding to the gender of a person who belongs to a group in which the number of people is equal to or less than a predetermined value, and / or propose an age interval such that the number of people who belong to each of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of two or more elements among a plurality of elements corresponding to a plurality of types of items is greater than the above-mentioned predetermined value. On the other hand, the suggestion unit 14 may not, for example, propose the deletion of an element corresponding to a city, ward, town, or village of a person who belongs to a group in which the number of people is equal to or less than a predetermined value.

[0034] The proposing unit 14 may determine the content of the proposal depending on whether the database (for example, the database 200) is a public database or not.

[0035] (Technical effect) As described above, even if the data is anonymized, there is a possibility that an individual can be identified from the anonymized data due to, for example, the progress of depopulation in a region. In the information processing device 1, when the number of people belonging to at least one of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of two or more elements out of a plurality of elements corresponding to a plurality of types of items in the database falls below a predetermined value, a warning is issued. Therefore, the information processing device 1 can detect a situation in which an individual may be identified from information not recognized as personal information (i.e., anonymized data).

[0036] <Modification> The database 200 may register population density for each ward, city, town, and village. The population density for each ward, city, town, and village may be obtained from statistical data published by at least one of the national and local governments. The determination unit 12 of the information processing device 1 may determine whether or not there is a ward, city, town, and village whose population density is equal to or lower than a predetermined density. If it is determined that there is a ward, city, town, and village whose population density is equal to or lower than the predetermined density, the warning unit 13 may issue a warning. In this case, the suggestion unit 14 may suggest deleting an element corresponding to a city, city, town, and village related to a person who resides in the ward, city, town, and village whose population density is equal to or lower than the predetermined density.

[0037] The "predetermined density" is a value that determines whether or not to issue a warning. The predetermined density may be a fixed value that is determined in advance. The predetermined density may also be a variable value according to some parameter. The warning unit 13 may, for example, issue a warning indicating that there is a risk that an individual may be identified from the database 200. For this reason, the predetermined density may be set as a population density at which it is estimated that there is a risk that an individual may be identified from the database 200. For example, the predetermined density may be 50 people / km. 2 It may be.

[0038] Various aspects of the invention derived from the above-described embodiment and modifications will be described below.

[0039] An information processing device according to one aspect of the invention includes: an identification means for identifying the number of people belonging to each of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of two or more elements among a plurality of elements corresponding to a plurality of types of items, each of which is registered for each person in a database; a determination means for determining whether or not there is a group in which the number of the identified people is equal to or less than a predetermined value; and a warning means for issuing a warning when there is a group in which the number of the identified people is equal to or less than the predetermined value. In the above-mentioned embodiment, the identification unit 11 corresponds to an example of the identification means, the determination unit 12 corresponds to an example of the determination means, and the warning unit 13 corresponds to an example of the warning means.

[0040] In the information processing device, the specification means may specify the number of people belonging to each of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of the two or more elements when the database is updated.

[0041] The two or more items registered in the database and corresponding to the two or more elements may include gender. The information processing device may include a suggestion means for suggesting, when it is determined that there is a group in which the number of the identified persons is equal to or less than the predetermined value, deleting from the database an element corresponding to gender of a person belonging to a group in which the number of the identified persons is equal to or less than the predetermined value. The suggestion unit 14 in the above-mentioned embodiment corresponds to an example of the suggestion means.

[0042] The two or more items registered in the database and corresponding to the two or more elements may include a first administrative division and a second administrative division smaller than the first division. The information processing device may include a suggestion means for suggesting, when it is determined that there is a group in which the number of the identified persons is equal to or less than the predetermined value, deleting from the database an element corresponding to the second division related to a person belonging to a group in which the number of the identified persons is equal to or less than the predetermined value.

[0043] The two or more items registered in the database and corresponding to the two or more elements may include an age group. The information processing device may include a suggestion means for, when it is determined that there is a group in which the number of the identified persons is equal to or less than the predetermined value, proposing an age range interval such that the number of persons belonging to each of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of the two or more elements is greater than the predetermined value.

[0044] In the information processing device, the suggestion means may determine the content of the suggestion based on the purpose of the database.

[0045] An information processing device according to another aspect of the invention has a plurality of elements corresponding to a plurality of types of items registered for each person, and is equipped with a determination means for determining whether the population density of an administrative divisional unit is below a predetermined density based on a database in which the population density of the divisional unit is registered, and a warning means for issuing a warning when it is determined that the population density of the divisional unit is below the predetermined density.

[0046] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but may be modified as appropriate within the scope of the claims and the gist or concept of the invention as can be read from the entire specification, and information processing devices involving such modifications are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 1... information processing device, 10... arithmetic device, 11... identification unit, 12... judgment unit, 13... warning unit, 14... suggestion unit

Claims

1. A means for identifying the number of people belonging to each of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of two or more elements among a plurality of elements corresponding to a plurality of types of items, which are registered for each person in the database; a determination means for determining whether or not there is a group in which the number of the identified persons is equal to or less than a predetermined value; a warning means for issuing a warning when there is a group in which the number of the identified persons is equal to or less than the predetermined value; An information processing device comprising:

2. The identification means identifies the number of people belonging to each of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of the two or more elements when the database is updated.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

3. The two or more items corresponding to the two or more elements include gender, a suggestion means for suggesting, when it is determined that a group exists in which the number of the identified persons is equal to or less than the predetermined value, deletion from the database of an element corresponding to the gender of a person belonging to the group in which the number of the identified persons is equal to or less than the predetermined value; 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

4. The two or more items corresponding to the two or more elements respectively include a first administrative division and a second administrative division smaller than the first division; a suggestion means for suggesting, when it is determined that a group exists in which the number of the identified persons is equal to or less than the predetermined value, deletion of an element corresponding to the second category related to a person belonging to a group in which the number of the identified persons is equal to or less than the predetermined value from the database; 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

5. The two or more items corresponding to the two or more elements include an age group, and a suggestion means for proposing an age range interval such that the number of people belonging to each of a plurality of groups defined by a combination of the two or more elements is greater than the predetermined value when it is determined that there is a group in which the number of the identified people is equal to or less than the predetermined value.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,

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