Healthcare technologies are rapidly evolving, producing new data types and innovative data uses. Data and technology can bring significant enhancements to the healthcare system, deepen patients’ and consumers’ engagement and understanding about their health, and be used as part of initiatives meant to improve health outcomes. It is critical to analyze how sensitive health and wellness data affect individual privacy and understand what it means for doctors, researchers, and companies to responsibly use such data. The FPF health team continues to build on its prior work on Consumer Wearables and Wellness Apps and Devices and Privacy Best Practices for Consumer Genetic Testing Services by exploring and addressing issues at the forefront and intersection of health, data, and privacy. Of main focus are the privacy challenges related to the collection, use, and sharing of both medical data and data that falls outside of the scope of HIPAA and FDA regulations. FPF brings together stakeholders to analyze how new technologies and data practices in the health ecosystem can impact individual privacy and promote the more effective and ethical use of data.
Artificial Intelligence and the COVID-19 Pandemic
By Brenda Leong and Dr. Sara Jordan Machine learning-based technologies are playing a substantial role in the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts are using machine learning to study the virus, test potential treatments, diagnose individuals, analyze the public health impacts, and more. Below, we describe some of the leading efforts and identify data protection […]
European Union’s Data-Based Policy Against the Pandemic, Explained
Benefitting from a mature and largely harmonized data protection legal framework, the European Union and its Member States are taking policymaking steps towards a pan-European approach to enlisting data and technology against the spread of COVID-19 and to support the gradual restarting of the economy. Here is an overview of key recent events essential to […]
FPF Submits Comments to NIH on the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2021-2025
Earlier this month, the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) submitted comments to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan covering fiscal years 2021-2025. In the letter, Health Policy Counsel Rachele Hendricks-Sturrup and Artificial Intelligence Policy Counsel Sara Jordan propose the addition of a cross-cutting theme to NIH’s strategic plan as well […]
FPF and Privacy Analytics Identify “A Practical Path Toward Genetic Privacy”
Paper highlights de-identification standards, re-identification research, and emerging technical, contractual, and policy protections that can safeguard genetic data while supporting research. Genomic data is arguably the most personal of all personally identifiable information (“PII”). Techniques to de-identify genomic data to limit privacy and security risks to individuals–while that data is used for research and statistical […]
Privacy & Pandemics Virtual Workshop: The Role of Mobile Apps
The Future of Privacy Forum and the Israel Tech Policy Institute recently convened a briefing with experts from government, academia, and leading companies about the use of mobile apps related to the COVID-19 public health crisis, and how data protection and ethics can be managed when sensitive health and location data are collected. The briefing […]
FPF Provides Senate Testimony on Strategies to Mitigate Privacy Risks of Using Data to Combat COVID-19
Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) Senior Counsel Stacey Gray today provided the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation with written testimony, including recommendations based on how experts in the U.S. and around the world are currently mitigating the risks of using data to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. “The collection and use of data, including personal […]
ICYMI: FPF Experts Raise Concerns about Protecting Student Privacy During Rapid Switch to Online Learning
Experts from the Future of Privacy Forum, the nation’s leading think tank focused on advancing responsible consumer privacy practices, have spoken out in numerous articles and publications to raise awareness about privacy concerns stemming from the rapid adoption of general-use technologies to support online learning at K-12 and higher education institutions nationwide. As FPF’s Director […]
Why Data Protection Law Is Uniquely Equipped to Let Us Fight a Pandemic with Personal Data
Data protection law is different than “privacy”. We, data protection lawyers, have been complacent recently and have failed to clarify this loud and clear for the general public. Perhaps happy to finally see this field of law taking the front stage of public debate through the GDPR, we have not stopped anyone from saying that […]
FPF Charts the Role of Mobile Apps in Pandemic Response
Multiple apps and software development kits (SDK) have been deployed to help both private and public entities tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to better understand these technologies, the Future of Privacy Forum has created a comparison chart to contrast the objectives and methods of specific apps and SDKs. The chart compares relevant privacy and […]
FPF Offers New Resources on Privacy and Pandemics
Today, the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) released a collection of new publications and resources to help governments, educators, researchers, companies, and other organizations navigate essential privacy questions regarding the response to the coronavirus pandemic. Global leaders responding to the coronavirus pandemic are increasingly relying on data from individuals and communities to analyze the virus’ […]