On the use of fuzzy partitions to protect data

Abstract

Data protection is one of the most challenging tasks nowadays due to the huge amount of information that can be shared and crossed from different sources. Releasing microdata is a way to protect data, mainly in the economic and medical field. However, this kind of data can experience privacy attacks. This paper proposes the use of fuzzy sets as a way to improve the protection of privacy in microdata. Then, traditional definitions of k-anonymity, l-diversity and t-closeness are extended. The performance of these new approaches is checked in terms of the risk index.