What best characterizes the outcome when a researcher's file with aggregated data is stolen but no identifying information is retained?

The situation describes an incident where a researcher's file containing aggregated data is stolen, and no identifying information is retained. The key aspect here is that the data is aggregated, which means that it does not individualize or attribute the data to specific persons. Because no identifying information is included, the risk of re-identifying individuals or breaching their personal privacy is effectively mitigated.

A violation of privacy typically occurs when personal, identifiable information about individuals is exposed without their consent. In this case, since the data is aggregated and lacks identifying information, individuals cannot be linked to the data, which means their privacy remains intact.

Similarly, a breach of confidentiality relates to unauthorized access to identifiable information that compromises the obligation to protect participants' private data. Since the stolen file contains only aggregated data, there is no breach of confidentiality, as the data does not contain any identifiers.

Therefore, the outcome of this scenario is best characterized as neither a violation of privacy nor a breach of confidentiality due to the absence of identifiable information in the aggregated data.