The California Health and Human Services Agency (CHHS) Data De-identification
Guidelines (DDG) describes a procedure to be used by departments and offices in the
CHHS to assess data for public release. As part of the document, specific actions that
may be taken for each step in the procedure are described. These steps are intended
to assist departments in assuring that data is de-identified for purposes of public release
that meet the requirements of the California Information Practices Act1 (IPA) and the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act2 (HIPAA) to prevent the disclosure of
personal information.