Re-identification of familial database records

Area of Science:

• Genomics
• Bioinformatics
• Data Privacy

Background:

• Genome-based research frequently utilizes familial relationship data, such as pedigrees, alongside genomic records.
• Protecting individual anonymity is crucial when sharing sensitive family information, often involving the removal or encoding of explicit identifiers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce IdentiFamily, a novel software program designed to link de-identified familial relationships back to named individuals.
• To assess the re-identification risk associated with de-identified genealogical data.

Main Methods:

• IdentiFamily extracts genealogical knowledge from publicly accessible online records, including newspaper obituaries and death records.
• The software ascertains the re-identification risk for specific family relations within de-identified datasets.
• Evaluation involved applying IdentiFamily to real-world data from a state's capital city.

Main Results:

• Robust genealogies of current populations can be extracted from online sources.
• Unique identifiability was demonstrated for approximately 70% of the population in the evaluated dataset.
• The study confirms the feasibility of re-identifying individuals from de-identified genealogical data.

Conclusions:

• IdentiFamily serves as a critical tool for organizations to evaluate pedigree anonymity before data disclosure.
• The findings underscore the need for enhanced privacy protection techniques when handling familial genomic data.
• Organizations can use IdentiFamily to proactively identify and mitigate privacy risks in genealogical datasets.