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Master's Thesis Bilal Akın

Last modified May 23

Improving the Functionality and Performance of a Text Privatization Benchmarking Platform

 

Abstract

The need to protect sensitive information in digital text data has led to the development of many automated systems that “privatize” text, that is, remove or mask personal details to protect privacy. In our environment, several approaches exist that achieve this goal, but comparing their effectiveness is challenging. An existing benchmark has been implemented to evaluate these text privatization systems. This benchmark is built as an aggregate of different evaluation modules, each assessing one specific aspect of the privatization process.

Although the benchmark provides a comprehensive evaluation by aggregating different modules, there is still room for improvement. The current setup requires refinement to enhance the modular evaluation, incorporate versioning to track improvements, and increase efficiency. This work will explore how to fine-tune the benchmark to deliver even more reliable evaluations across various text privatization methods.

There is a growing demand for clear, standardized, and efficient evaluation tools in data privacy. An improved benchmark not only allows for better comparison between different anonymization techniques but also supports developers and researchers in refining their methods to meet regulatory standards and practical requirements.

The objective of this thesis is to enhance the existing benchmark by refining its modules, improving versioning and efficiency, and ensuring it meets the operational requirements for evaluation. The system will serve as a practical tool for assessing text privatization methods in terms of privacy, utility, and performance.

 

Research Questions

  • RQ1: How can an existing modular evaluation framework for text privatization be extended to enable the standardized, reproducible, and interoperable measurement of privacy, utility, and performance?
    • How can modules be refined to improve overall evaluation?
    • What should each module measure (e.g., privacy, utility)?
    • How to standardize these measurements?
  • RQ2: How can the platform be designed and engineered to fulfill key software quality attributes such as performance, maintainability, extensibility, and fairness in the benchmarking process?

    • How to enhance performance, maintainability, and extensibility?
    • How to manage versioning for evolving systems?
    • What technical/conceptual needs ensure robustness & fairness?

 

 

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