Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) Practice Exam 2025 – All-in-One Guide to Ace Your Certification!

Anonymization is a process that fundamentally alters data in such a way that it can no longer be linked to any specific individual, thereby protecting the privacy of that individual. The correct answer focuses on personal identifiers, which include any data that could be used to identify a person, such as names, social security numbers, email addresses, and more. By permanently removing these personal identifiers through anonymization, the data can be used for analysis or research without risking the privacy or associating any information back to a specific person.

In contrast, other elements such as file format information, encryption keys, and metadata do not directly relate to the concept of anonymization. File format information pertains to the structure or type of data file and does not influence the identification of individuals. Encryption keys are critical for securing data but are separate from the matter of personal identifiers. Metadata, while it can provide context about the data, does not inherently identify individuals; hence, its removal does not achieve the same purpose as anonymizing personal identifiers.