Anonymization and pseudonymization

Anonymizing makes identifying a person irreversibly impossible, including by cross-referencing: the data is then no longer personal and the GDPR no longer applies to it. Pseudonymizing replaces direct identifiers with a code, but re-identification remains possible with additional information kept separately: this data remains personal.

Example

Replacing a name with a random identifier = pseudonymization, not anonymization.

Related concepts

The whole glossary