#21: Anonymize datasets
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Reporter: nigelj | Owner: nigelj
Type: enhancement | Status: assigned
Priority: major | Milestone: Release 0.2.0
Component: General | Version: 0.1.5
Resolution: | Keywords:
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Comment (by toshio):
Replying to [comment:3 toshio]:
We could include language on the screen that encourages it, too --
and
since it's a HTTPS connection, couldn't we let the voter know their Vote
ID, so the voter's the only person who knows the userID <-> voteID
connection? (This is seriously treading into separate ticket waters, I
know.)
So the problem is: If you come to me next election and say I'm
userid:100001. I haven't voted yet but the system is saying I did,
there's no way for me to tell if there's something wrong with the system,
who benefitted from the votes cast using your userid, or if you're just
trying to cause a commotion and derail the process.
If the purpose of this feature is to allow anyone to validate the votes
without access to the db here's what I'd do:
1. Have a table that maps userid::election => one-use-voteid.
2. Do not give out information from this table to anyone.
This way, db administrators have the ability to find out what's going on
if something happens. At the same time, validation of voting outside the
db will only lead to anonymous ids, not to userids used anywhere else.
This still allows administrators to peak at who is voting for which
candidates if they want to track the information through enough tables in
both databases but, as G says, an administrator who is sufficiently
motivated can get that information by checking http logs as well as the
information in the db.
Another way to phrase this is: which problem are we more concerned about:
1. Voting administrators finding out who voted for what (Note:
simultaneously, you have to trust that your admins haven't compromised the
actual numbers, just compromised the anonymity of the data.)
2. Voters attempting to cause fraud in the system or add distrust to the
numbers returned from the process.
--
Ticket URL: <
https://fedorahosted.org/elections/ticket/21#comment:5>
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https://fedorahosted.org/elections/>
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