, SecurityFocus 2007-12-04
In a dramatic demonstration of the privacy dangers of databases that collect consumer habits, two researchers from the University of Texas at Austin have shown that a handful of movie ratings can identify a person as easily as a Social Security number.
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Look at the title: "Researchers reverse Netflix anonymization". There is nothing in the article that supports that title. There is no breach of user confidence, poor security on Netflix part or anything else that could remotely be construed as a reversal of the Netflix anonymization.
A data set comparison is now and always has been a risk to anyone who posts across multiple systems and no anonymizer can fix that.
If the article had been presented as a user awarness discussion warning users of the danger, perhaps siting the Netflix study it would have been a reasonable and fair article. As presented, it is overdramatized, headling grabing attempt to stretch a conclusion where it doesn't fir.
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Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/articles/11497/34922#34922