Figure 1
From: The effect of distant connections on node anonymity in complex networks
Four approaches for assessing node anonymity: Ego network uniqueness11 (A), followed by the three techniques discussed in this paper: d-k-anonymity12 (B), anonymity-cascade (C) and anonymity-cascade with twin nodes (D). For each approach, the top row shows the uniquely identified nodes in the giant component of the Copnet calls network13. Red nodes are unique using 1-k-anonymity (i.e., ego network uniqueness), black nodes with 2-k-anonymity (subfigure (B) only). Pink nodes can be identified using one cascading step (\(C_1\)), orange nodes with multiple steps (\(C_{ max-\ell }\)). Grey nodes are not uniquely identified using the considered approach. The bottom row illustrates an example of a d-neighborhood, detailing which knowledge is taken into account by each approach (edge and node outline color). Subfigure (C,D) show the paths traversed by anonymity-cascade to identify the pink and orange nodes, given that the red center node is unique for 1-k-anonymity.
