zanon 0.2.1

A module for z-anonymity

zanon

A module to anonymize data streams with zero-delay called z-anonymity.

When instantiating the zanon object, the constructor receives a value in seconds for Delta_t and a value for z.

The anonymize() method accepts a string in the form of a triple (t,u,a) meaning that at time t a user u exposes an attribute a.

If the triple exposes an attribute that has not been exposed by at least other z - 1 users in the past Delta_t, the triple is simply ignored. Otherwise, the triple is printed in the file 'output.txt'.

The algorithm can handle generalization when providing the attribute with a hierarchy using * as separator (max_generalization*...*min_generalization*attribute). Whenever releasing the attribute is not possible, the algorithm will look for the most specific generalization exposed by at least other z - 1 users in the past Delta_t. If none is found, nothing is print out.

other methods

evaluate_output() and evaluate_category(int z) offer informations about how the algorithm performed.

duration() print the range of time covered.

example of usage

from zanonymity import zanon

file_in = "trace.txt"
deltat = 3600 #in seconds
z = 20

z = zanon.zanon(deltat,z)

for line in open(file_in, 'r'):
	z.anonymize(line)

z.duration()
z.evaluate_output()
z.evaluate_category(zeta)