Enhancing data privacy: a comprehensive survey of privacy-enabling technologies

Abstract

Privacy is a fundamental human right, especially crucial in our modern digital age. With the rapid advancement of technology, ensuring individuals’ privacy has become increasingly complex. Our survey paper aims to shed light on various privacy engineering technologies that play a crucial role in protecting personal data. We delve into four key areas: data anonymization, data encryption, synthetic data generation, and differential privacy. These technologies serve as essential tools in safeguarding online privacy. Data anonymization, for instance, includes removing or modifying identifiable information from datasets to protect individuals’ identities. Encryption secures data by converting it into a code that can only be decoded by authorized parties. Synthetic data generation creates artificial data that closely resembles real data but doesn’t contain any identifiable information. Differential privacy adds a small amount of controlled noise to protect sensitive information. Throughout our exploration, we not only explain the principles and techniques behind these technologies but also the tools used for each of these techniques and evaluation criteria and also examine their practical applications. By understanding their strengths, limitations, and real-world implementations, we gain valuable insights into how they contribute to the broader goal of ensuring privacy in our digital world.