Patent ID: 8661423

Claim:
A method for automatically identifying one or more quasi-identifier data fields in a dataset, the method comprising: identifying a program having access to the dataset, the program including one or more program statements for reading or writing a value in one or more fields in the dataset; determining a first output program statement in the program, where the first program output statement is a program statement for writing a first value into a sensitive data field in the dataset; determining, with a processor, a first set of program statements in the program, where the first set of program statements includes one or more program statements that contribute to the computation of the first value written into the sensitive data field; wherein determining the first set of program statements further comprises: comparing a number of indirect references in the program with a threshold number, and adaptively determining the first set of program statements using dynamic program analysis if the number of indirect reference is equal to or greater than the threshold; adaptively determining the first set of program statements using static program analysis if the number of indirect references is less than the threshold; and, analyzing, with the processor, the first set of program statements, and determining, based on the analysis of the first set of program statements, one or more quasi-identifier data fields associated with the sensitive data field in the dataset.