From Out-Law.com:
Increasing amounts of personal information are collected by organisations and stored in massive databases. That information is sometimes used or released after being stripped of elements that could identify individuals in a process called ‘anonymisation’.
University of Colorado Law School Associate Professor Paul Ohm, though, has said that the techniques used no longer work and that it is now possible to identify people from the release of supposedly anonymised records.
“With the supposed power of anonymisation you can share the data with anyone you want, you can store the data for as long as you like,” Ohm told podcast OUT-LAW Radio. “And traditionally it has been a conversation stopper. Once you assert anonymisation everyone nods their heads and says ‘that’s fine, privacy is protected here, let’s focus on something else’.”
Read more on Out-Law.com, where you can also listen to the podcast.