Responsible Data Access and the Role of PETs
Last year, the CDEI launched a responsible data access programme to address the challenges organisations face to access data they need in a responsible way. A key component of this programme is our work to encourage adoption of Privacy-Enhancing Technologies (PETs).
Challenges to PETs Adoption
PETs are a set of emerging techniques that enable data access and analysis while providing stronger protections to preserve data privacy. However, there are several challenges to achieving more widespread adoption of PETs including lack of awareness and relative nascence of these technologies. CDEI’s work to address these issues has included a PETs adoption guide to raise awareness of these emerging technologies as well as the UK-US PETs Prize Challenges for driving innovation in novel PETs for financial crime prevention and pandemic forecasting.
PETs Guidance
Organisations are also uncertain of legal implications of using PETs. This week, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) published new PETs guidance to explain how PETs can be used to support a data protection by design approach in line with regulatory requirements.
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Many organisations are still unsure of the value of PETs relative to their costs, which is key to supporting investment decisions in these emerging technologies. Today, we’re announcing a joint project with the ICO to develop a PETs cost-benefit analysis tool.
Joint Project
Our tool will help organisations interested in adopting PETs to better understand the costs and benefits involved and point to resources that can address challenges to adoption. This tool will form part of the CDEI’s updated PETs adoption guide, which includes a use case repository, recently updated by the Open Data Institute.
Research Findings
During an initial research phase to inform development of this tool, the CDEI conducted interviews with stakeholders from across the PETs ecosystem to understand the challenges of articulating the value and costs of PETs. We spoke to people working with a variety of PETs including homomorphic encryption, secure multi-party computation, differential privacy, synthetic data, federated learning/analytics, and trusted execution environments (TEEs).
Two key findings from our interviews were:
- The importance of a problem-led approach rather than focusing on specific technologies
- The need to combine quantitative and qualitative information around implementing PETs
Conclusion
By developing this tool, the CDEI and ICO hope to encourage wider adoption of PETs through understanding and addressing common challenges in implementation and highlighting the opportunities enabled by these technologies.
FAQs
Q: What are PETs and why are they important?
A: PETs are a set of emerging techniques that enable data access and analysis while providing stronger protections to preserve data privacy.
Q: What are the challenges to PETs adoption?
A: The challenges to PETs adoption include lack of awareness and relative nascence of these technologies, as well as uncertainty around legal implications and cost-benefit analysis.
Q: What is the purpose of the joint project with the ICO?
A: The purpose of the joint project is to develop a PETs cost-benefit analysis tool to help organisations interested in adopting PETs to better understand the costs and benefits involved and point to resources that can address challenges to adoption.
Q: How can I get involved in the project?
A: If you are interested in sharing your experiences or would like to receive further updates on this project, please get in touch with us at pets@cdei.gov.uk.
