# Linked-identifier review exercise

All people, roles and events are invented. No legal anonymity determination or re-identification of a real person has occurred.

Read the synthetic tokenised data, separate key and recipient context together. Then explain which links remain and what the task actually needs.

| Representation | Synthetic content | Reasoning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Original | Mara Example and Elliot Example have invented feedback records. | Direct identity is present in the teaching data. |
| Tokenised working file | P-01 and P-02 replace the names. | The transformation removes visible names but retains stable links. |
| Separate linkage key | P-01 maps to Mara Example; P-02 to Elliot Example. | The holder of this key can attribute the records. |
| Context without the key | P-01 is described as the only facilitator at a specific invented event. | Distinctive contextual information may provide another identification route. |
| Reduced-detail alternative | General feedback themes with no token or unique event detail. | May meet the wording task; no real anonymity conclusion is established by this example. |
| Recipient assessment | Available information and realistic linking means must be assessed. | Do not assume every recipient can identify equally, or that none can identify without the key. |

## Review steps

- Inventory the remaining links: Include keys, stable identifiers, distinctive attributes and other accessible information.
- Assess the actual context: Consider realistic means, time, cost and available technology for the relevant parties.
- Record the data-specific conclusion: Keep the version, assumptions, recipients and legal reasoning separate from a tool’s transformation label.

## Invented example

Original: Mara Example, only facilitator at the fictional Elm Workshop on 3 March 2026, gave feedback about room layout.
Tokenised: P-01, only facilitator at that same invented workshop/date, gave the same feedback.
Reduced description: “Participants suggested clearer room signage.”

The tokenised version retains a key and contextual clues. The reduced description illustrates minimisation, not a legal finding about a real dataset. The supplied linkage key is for teaching only.

## Source and scope

Guide: https://aona.ai/resources/guides/gdpr-anonymisation-pseudonymisation-ai/

Source check: 21 September 2026. General information, not professional approval or a completed control test.

- EU GDPR: identifiability and pseudonymisation: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj/eng