New tools will make sharing research data safer in cyberspace
abernard102@gmail.com 2012-09-26
Summary:
"No longer limited to narrow focus groups, painstaking in-person surveys, or artificially controlled studies, researchers today have a far easier time compiling and manipulating large data sets. At the same time, however, sharing such data can be fraught with risks. Now, researchers at Harvard University will receive a four-year grant totaling nearly $5 million from the National Science Foundation's Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) program to study and enhance the privacy of research data. The 'Privacy Tools for Sharing Research Data' project will develop methods, tools and policies to further the tremendous value that can come from collecting, analyzing, and sharing data while more fully protecting individual privacy. Salil Vadhan, Vicky Joseph Professor of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), will serve as the lead investigator of the multi-school, cross-departmental effort that draws upon Harvard's renowned expertise in the social sciences, law, government, statistics, and computer science. 'The Internet and, in particular, social networking sites, provide an amazingly powerful platform for researchers to gather, mine, and share data on human behavior and interactions,' explains Vadhan, who conducts research in theoretical computer science. 'Even with the best intentions and safeguards in place, however, the risk of personal information leaking out remains high.' While the academic community is eager to share data in an open-access manner, researchers face the risk that by sharing data they may be putting their subjects at risk and, even worse, potentially violating the privacy of individuals who may not even know their data was being used. Given the complexities involved in ensuring privacy for social science research, Vadhan will be joined in the endeavor by Gary King, Albert J. Weatherhead III University Professor at Harvard University and Director of the Institute for Quantitative Social Science (IQSS); Latanya Sweeney, Professor of Government and Technology in Residence at Harvard University and Director of the Data Privacy Lab; and Phil Malone, Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School (HLS) and Director of the HLS Cyberlaw Clinic at the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard."