Document Date Offsetting for Privacy-Preserving Time Intervals
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for anonymizing digital documents struggle to effectively obscure date information while preserving the time intervals between dates, which can reveal subject identities, especially in medical research where date patterns can be uniquely identifying.
Innovation Solution
A software application that associates dates with subjects and applies a user-defined date offset function to shift all dates by a consistent value, using an anchor date to maintain time intervals and anonymize the document.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If dates are redacted or removed from documents, then subject privacy is protected, but the time interval information between events is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the identifying element (specific date values) from the document while preserving the structural relationship (time intervals) between events. By removing only the specific date numbers and replacing them with anonymized placeholders, the solution separates the identifying information from the meaningful temporal relationships, thus protecting privacy while retaining utility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms specific date parameters into anonymized date parameters by applying an offset function. This changes the actual date values while maintaining the relative time differences between dates. The transformation alters the parameter values (dates) in a controlled way that preserves the interval relationships between events.
2Reliability
If dates are transformed between different formats, then anonymization is achieved, but the utility of the information is significantly reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies different treatment to different parts of the date information. Instead of uniformly transforming all dates, it selectively anonymizes only the specific date values while preserving the temporal relationships. This local differentiation allows the system to protect privacy where needed while maintaining information utility where possible.
3Reliability
If all date information is removed to ensure complete anonymization, then subject identification is prevented, but the document loses its temporal context and usefulness
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments date information into two distinct components: identifying elements (specific date values) and structural elements (time intervals between events). By segmenting the date data this way, the system can anonymize the identifying component while preserving the structural component, thus achieving complete anonymization without losing temporal context.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of anonymizing a digital document includes: receiving a digital source document containing text including at least one date; referring to a user-defined rule set, wherein the rule set includes at least a date offset function; and applying modifications to the digital source document according to the user-defined rule set, so as to anonymize the digital source document, the modifications including changing the least one date to a different date in accordance with the date offset function; and saving the modified digital source document as an output document.