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De re/de dicto distinction: a logicians’ perspective on data anonymity

De re/de dicto distinction: a logicians’ perspective on data anonymity
De re/de dicto distinction: a logicians’ perspective on data anonymity
The distinction between de re (of the thing) and de dicto (of what is said) readings of sentences has long been the topic of studies in logic and philosophy of language. The article proposes to apply these concepts to anonymity. It argues that, in the proposed setting, de dicto knowledge preserves anonymity, while de re knowledge does not. The article also considers a third, “overt,” form of knowledge. The main technical result is a sound and complete logical system that captures the interplay between a data traceability expression and the de re, de dicto, and overt knowledge modalities. The article also shows that the three knowledge modalities are not definable through each other even in the presence of the traceability expression.
axiomatization, completeness, data anonymity, de dicto, de re, undefinability
Jiang, Junli
46fed9d5-30a9-40d9-9d6c-5fb2fd159992
Naumov, Pavel
8b6c40fb-b199-44d5-a8e2-0ebd021566b0
Jiang, Junli
46fed9d5-30a9-40d9-9d6c-5fb2fd159992
Naumov, Pavel
8b6c40fb-b199-44d5-a8e2-0ebd021566b0

Jiang, Junli and Naumov, Pavel (2025) De re/de dicto distinction: a logicians’ perspective on data anonymity. Journal of Cybersecurity, 11 (1), [tyae025]. (doi:10.1093/cybsec/tyae025).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The distinction between de re (of the thing) and de dicto (of what is said) readings of sentences has long been the topic of studies in logic and philosophy of language. The article proposes to apply these concepts to anonymity. It argues that, in the proposed setting, de dicto knowledge preserves anonymity, while de re knowledge does not. The article also considers a third, “overt,” form of knowledge. The main technical result is a sound and complete logical system that captures the interplay between a data traceability expression and the de re, de dicto, and overt knowledge modalities. The article also shows that the three knowledge modalities are not definable through each other even in the presence of the traceability expression.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: 31 October 2024
Published date: 21 January 2025
Additional Information: Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s).
Keywords: axiomatization, completeness, data anonymity, de dicto, de re, undefinability

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 498240
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/498240
PURE UUID: 71d25351-d770-411b-9922-72bdaa81452b
ORCID for Pavel Naumov: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-1687-045X

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 12 Feb 2025 17:53
Last modified: 22 Aug 2025 02:34

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Contributors

Author: Junli Jiang
Author: Pavel Naumov ORCID iD

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