Netflix released an anonymized dataset of movie ratings for a research competition. However, researchers were able to link records to IMDb users, revealing personal movie preferences. What was the main weakness in Netflix’s anonymization process?

Question

Netflix released an anonymized dataset of movie ratings for a research competition. However, researchers were able to link records to IMDb users, revealing personal movie preferences. What was the main weakness in Netflix’s anonymization process?

Accepted Answer

The quasi-identifiers (movie ratings, timestamps) were not properly generalized.

Answer

Netflix used differential privacy, but the noise was too small.

Answer

The dataset contained direct identifiers like names and emails.

Answer

The dataset was not encrypted before release.

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Netflix released an anonymized dataset of movie ratings for a research competiti...

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