Prove count without revealing data

Suppose I maintain a proprietary database and claim that it has N records. Before subscribing to my database a client wants a proof that the database is indeed this large. What theoretical protocol can I employ to prove my database size with possibly revealing only a small number of records?

I think the usual way of doing this is that you hash each record (with a known cryptographically secure hash) and provide the client with $N$ hash values. The client chooses $k$ out of those hash values and you reply with the corresponding $k$ records. The client can then verify that the hash values match up correctly with the provided records plus whatever record validation they'd like to do. Note that if you have duplicate records in your DB, those duplicates could be inferred from provided hash values (e.g.: the client could get a pretty good estimate of the number of distinct records in your DB). If this is undesirable, then you can salt the hashes.

StackExchange Computer Science Q#71555, answer score: 3