Which statement about de-identification is accurate?

• A. It encrypts data to prevent privacy leakage.
• B. It shares data publicly without identifiers.
• C. It removes personal identifiers to protect privacy while preserving data utility.
• D. It labels data with names for traceability.

Answer: (C)

De-identification focuses on removing or masking personal identifiers in a dataset so individuals cannot be identified, while preserving as much useful information as possible for analysis. The best statement captures this balance: personal identifiers are removed to protect privacy while the remaining data stay useful for research or analytics. Encryption protects data in storage or transit but doesn't inherently remove identifiers from the dataset itself. Publicly sharing data without identifiers can be a result of de-identification, but it isn't the definition and still carries re-identification risks if other attributes allow linkage. Labeling data with names for traceability is the opposite of de-identification and increases privacy risk.