CDPSE Privacy Engineering Practice Question
You are designing a system for k-anonymity. If a dataset has an identifier that is unique to every row, what is the first step you must take before applying generalization?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Apply suppression to direct identifiers
Quasi-identifiers must be identified, and direct identifiers must be suppressed or removed, as k-anonymity does not protect against direct identification.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Add synthetic noise
Why it's wrong here
Noise is for differential privacy, not k-anonymity.
- ✗
Normalize the dataset
Why it's wrong here
Normalization is for database performance.
- ✓
Apply suppression to direct identifiers
Why this is correct
Direct identifiers must be removed to prevent simple record linking.
- ✗
Increase the k-value
Why it's wrong here
K-value choice is a later step after data preparation.
About these practice questions
Courseiva writes every CDPSE question from scratch — 215 in total, each with an explanation and a wrong-answer breakdown. None are copied from real exams or dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed August 2026 · checked against the official ISACA exam blueprint
This CDPSE practice question is part of Courseiva's free ISACA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CDPSE exam.