FPF Files Comments on White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Actions to Advance Privacy-Enhancing Technologies
FPF Files Comments on White House Office of Science and Technology Policy Actions to Advance Privacy-Enhancing Technologies
On July 8, 2022, FPF filed comments with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) regarding specific actions that would advance the adoption of privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs).
As emerging technologies continue to offer increased speed, efficiency, productivity, commercial output, and connectivity, they rely more on the extensive collection and processing of personal data. This processing can result in data protection and security challenges. The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) has long supported the development of PETs that can help mitigate data protection risks posed by emerging technologies.
In response to the Office’s invitation for comments and concerning the particular categories of information requested, FPF provided the following recommendations to the OSTP for the development of a national strategy on privacy-enhancing technologies:
1. Support the growing discipline of privacy engineering aimed at bridging the gap between technologies and policies through direct funding of academic research, building expertise within government, encouraging business-academia dialogues, and directing agencies to require federal contractors to incorporate PETs as appropriate to promote common standards in the discipline;
2. Recommend the establishment of a trusted inter-agency and multi-stakeholder body, including the FTC, NIST, HHS, NSF, and experts from the private sector, civil society, and academia, to provide guidance and standards-setting for de-identification and the role of PETs, with particular regard to their utility for compliance with state and federal legislation; and
3. Encourage the establishment of Administrative Data Research Networks (ADRNs) that offer de-identification tools to facilitate researcher access to data in a secure manner.
