Privacy specs often talk about ‘pseudonymisation’. On level 1, people focus on its definition and what sets it apart from ‘anonymous’ data. Level 2 specs think of ways to implement the concept of pseudonymous personal data. In this article we’ll zoom out and discuss whether using a pseudonymous identity should be a data subject’s choice by default. Certainly not an option for all but a possibility for many.
In an usual situation, personal data is made pseudonymous in the back-end side of operations. A person, let’s name him John, often does not know or see that his data is made pseudonymous. For example, John creates an account on website A. The website asks for his personal information, like name, email, date of birth etc. In a database, the data is linked within a key pair, say ‘ID_1234’ = ‘John’ which becomes pseudonymous in the eyes of the law.
Now in the usual situation, there is no other alternative and the pseudonymisation happens *after* data is collected. In the given example, making data pseudonymous is seen as a measure to protect the data subject rights, by protecting their data. And data subjects usually are not given the choice of which measures are applied (accountability is on the processors).
We think that in addition to protecting John’s data, the data collector could also provide the option for John to use a pseudonymous identity at first. For example asking ‘Want to create an account? Why not use a pseudo-id with us?’. Sure, there is some friction in terms of UX at first. Most people are used to every company wanting to know their real name, contact details and more, even if it is not necessary for getting the service or signing up for the account. Whether it be a simple email list, random account for an online forum or similar- we are still asked our name and other details.
But in a privacy bright future, companies add the choice of using a pseudonymous id in the account creation. Will it be considered as personal information? What about services that need some verification? There are many questions and answers to them are as always – it depends on the context. From top of our heads – even in the case of verified account creation such pseudonymous id choice could be viable (i.e verification is done by a trusted third party).
The good for the data collector? Aside from ‘less is more’ and data minimization related benefits it is an ethical thing to do. Should an individual be able to choose the path with less risks or more risks? As privacy is about personal data and also about personal choice.
To sum it up, we can add an additional layer of protection for data subjects by giving them an option to choose (or opt for) a pseudonymous identity.