WRITTEN ON December 7th, 2005 BY William Heath AND STORED IN Uncategorized

Thanks for tip-off about the new Council for Science and Technology report on the use of personal datasets. See below what it says about linked datasets and privacy-enhancing technologies.

Technological research needs

5. Government should promote research into knowledge technologies that facilitate the benefits of linking personal datasets. A key focus here
is research on privacy-enhancing technologies. Government should work closely with business experts from the private sector (such as the
banks) in identifying future needs regarding privacy-enhancing technology. In addition, government should:
* initiate a technology road-mapping exercise to identify what technologies will be available when, and plot these against relevant
socio-economic and other drivers;
* stimulate more interdisciplinary R&D – involving computer scientists, engineers and social scientists – in techniques for anonymising and
pseudonymising data, encryption, and anti-virus devices;
* encourage private sector organisations which are involved in privacy to share R&D ideas on security modelling;
* develop more explicit and proportional confidentiality requirements in its procurement specifications;
* promote greater trust through encouraging greater levels of investment by business into IT security.

42. Privacy concerns are fuelled in part by the power of technology – in particular the power of data-combing services on the internet and how
instantaneous the processes are – and the ease with which personal data held on a private database can be combined with publicly available
datasets. The use of the electoral register as an effective marketing tool is one clear example.

43. Privacy enhancing technologies enable users of information technology to interact with each other and with service providers,
revealing only the minimum of identifiable information necessary to perform particular transactions. They may also serve to inhibit or
prevent unlawful data processing. The design of privacy enhancing technologies depend on the extent of the cooperation, and goodwill, of
the different participants: some assume that service providers can be trusted to respect the rights and preferences of users; other scenarios
assume a very hostile environment where an adversary may exploit all available means to breach privacy.

44. We believe that government, as a major user of personal data, should make clear what privacy enhancing technologies it is likely to need in
the future so that business can work with government to develop such technologies. Government should work closely with business experts from
the private sector (such as the banks) in identifying needs. We also believe that government needs to develop more explicit and proportional
confidentiality requirements in its procurement specifications.
…
66. We believe there is a need for some creative thinking here which develops the concept of citizens owning their own data, which would
enable them to be able to exercise some control over how and when their data was used as well as putting more emphasis on individual citizens to
ensure their personal data was up-to-date. While accepting there are circumstances where government must retain the right to use individual
citizens’ data, and that government has a role in preventing malicious exploitation, the basic concept would be that citizens themselves would
own their personal data. Ownership would mean, as a minimum: that individual citizens would have the right to know what government and
agencies hold on them, with certain explicit exceptions; that there would be a shared responsibility between individual citizens and
government to maintain the accuracy of the personal data; and citizens would have the right to know the ways in which government uses personal
data. This concept needs to be explored further – at present it appears to be too remote from people’s own experiences for them to engage with
it. It will mean addressing a range of issues, including whether individual citizens have the necessary skills to ensure their
information remains accurate and protected