---
title: "What is de-identification?"
description: "What de-identification means, how US and EU law treat de-identified data, and what it changes for a company licensing SOPs, documents or code."
canonical_url: https://www.fearofgod.ai/glossary/de-identification
last_updated: 2026-10-26
site: "fearofgod.ai"
lang: en
---

# What is de-identification?

De-identification is the process of removing or transforming the details in a dataset that identify, or could reasonably identify, a person, so the records can be used without revealing who they are about.

## What does de-identification mean when you license SOPs, documents or code?

It means the names, contact details and other identifiers in your records are removed or changed before the records go to a buyer. SOPs and process documents usually hold few: an approver's name, an extension number, a customer named in a worked example. Support tickets, chat archives and commit metadata hold many more, because they record real people writing to each other. What a model learns from these records is mostly the procedure, the decision or the fix, and that part does not depend on knowing who wrote it. fearofgod.ai de-identifies the data before it goes to buyers.

## Is de-identified data still personal data?

That depends on the law and the method. HIPAA treats health information as de-identified only if an expert determines, and documents, that the risk of identification by an anticipated recipient is "very small", or if 18 listed identifiers are removed and the holder has no actual knowledge the rest could identify someone ([45 CFR 164.514(b)](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-C/part-164/subpart-E/section-164.514)). California's privacy law adds conditions, including that the business contractually obligates anyone who receives the information to comply with them ([Cal. Civ. Code § 1798.140(m)](https://cppa.ca.gov/regulations/pdf/ccpa_statute.pdf)). In the EU, pseudonymised data that could be attributed to a person with additional information is still personal data, while anonymous information falls outside the GDPR ([GDPR Recital 26](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2016/679/introduction/adopted)), and the European Data Protection Board's draft anonymisation guidelines say whether data is anonymous "may vary from one entity to another" ([EDPB Guidelines 02/2026](https://www.edpb.europa.eu/system/files/2026-09/edpb_guidelines_202602_anonymisation_v1_en_0.pdf)).

## What does de-identification change for what you license and control?

It can make records that mention people licensable at all, which widens what your company can be paid for. A licence can also bind the buyer: micro1's published data licence terms forbid the licensee to "knowingly attempt to identify or re-identify any natural person or specific customer" in anonymized or de-identified data ([micro1, Data License Master Terms, section 1.4(c)](https://www.micro1.ai/legal/data-license-master-terms)). Raw data is deleted according to a schedule agreed with the partner. Whether a given dataset needs more than de-identification, such as consent or a lawful basis, is a question for your counsel; this page is general information, not legal advice.


## Related

- [Pseudonymization](https://www.fearofgod.ai/glossary/pseudonymization)
- [Anonymization](https://www.fearofgod.ai/glossary/anonymization)
- [PII redaction](https://www.fearofgod.ai/glossary/pii-redaction)
- [Your solved support tickets can keep earning](https://www.fearofgod.ai/sell/support-tickets-and-customer-conversations)
- [Is it legal to sell company data to AI?](https://www.fearofgod.ai/guides/is-it-legal-to-sell-company-data-to-ai)

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Source: https://www.fearofgod.ai/glossary/de-identification · Index for AI systems: https://www.fearofgod.ai/llms.txt · Contact: sean@fearofgod.ai