Learn in the textbookRules for Handling Personal Information — Consent, Third-Party Provision, and Processing
DefinitionAnonymization (匿名化) is processing personal information so that a specific individual cannot be identified and the original information cannot be restored.
ExplanationMethods such as deleting names, grouping ages into age bands and removing values that few others share are combined so that the data cannot lead back to the person even when joined with other information. Under the Act on the Protection of Personal Information, data processed to the prescribed standards is called anonymously processed information (匿名加工情報). As long as obligations such as publishing the items it contains when creating or providing it are met, it can be given to third parties or used without the person's consent.
Memory hookAnonymous means "without a name": once the name is gone, no one can follow the trail back.