The Biden-Harris Administration is seeking feedback on a pending national strategy for privacy-preserving data sharing and analytics, according to a request for information (RFI) released today in the Federal Register.
The pending strategy – being developed by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) – will put forth a vision for “responsibly harnessing privacy-preserving data sharing and analytics to benefit individuals and society,” the RFI reads.
The notice highlights several critical sectors in which improved and comprehensive data sharing could speed up innovation, including health care, climate change, financial crime, human trafficking, and pandemic response.
However, while comprehensive data sharing can benefit several sectors, there must be a balance between data sharing and protecting the privacy of individuals. There has been a push by both Federal agencies and private sector companies to continue to collect more data through users’ connected devices, but there are still very few regulations on how that data should be handled.
“The purpose of this [RFI] is to better understand how to accelerate the responsible development and adoption of [privacy-enhancing technologies] in a manner that maximizes the benefit to individuals and society, including increasing equity for underserved or marginalized groups and promoting trust in data processing and information technologies,” the notice states.
In addition, the notice also proposes actions from research investments to training and education initiatives and the development of standards, policies, and regulations needed to achieve that vision.
OSTP will continue to seek feedback regarding the development of the strategy until July 8. The OSTP has also instructed any interested entity to offer feedback on 10 specific areas of interest; this includes specific research opportunities to advance privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), specific technical aspects or limitations of PETs, and risks related to PETs adoption.
