NSF Convergence Accelerator: The Future of Privacy Technology-Inaugural Conference of the Privacy Tech Alliance

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The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) will organize meetings and conduct a survey of industry stakeholders to help develop a long-term vision for the "future of privacy." Through these activities, the FPF seeks to jump-start a thriving collaborative community that will purposefully integrates knowledge and expertise from multiple disciplines and sectors in order to balance the requirements of data governance and individual privacy, through privacy-protecting technology. The pairing of industry experts and practitioners with academic researchers in this area?using the NSF Convergence Accelerator approach--will help contribute to the development of systems and products to help society realize the benefits of networked information technology without sacrificing privacy and individual rights. The results of this project will help shape the agenda of both research and practice to achieve this outcome.Given the centrality of data to modern organizations and to society, data governance is a key contemporary business and societal problem that needs to be addressed. The need and demand for addressing data privacy issues reaches across every sphere of work, whether in business and industry, government, higher education, non-profits, or civil society organizations. All organizations, regardless of their size, will require solutions that enable them to embed privacy and data protection in their operation and provide access to tools that help safeguard personal data. As the impact of data-intensive technologies increases and the pace of innovation accelerates, the resultant privacy risks from more extensive collection and processing of personal data also increase. As the data ecosystem and regulatory requirements grow more complex, organizations are urgently seeking ways to comply with the law and ensure all necessary data protections for their customers, clients and constituents. The technical, organizational, and logistical complexity of modern-day data governance, along with the pressing need to protect and respect individual privacy rights, constitute a ?grand challenge problem?. The FPF will investigate the possibility of a ?privacy technology track? for NSF?s Convergence Accelerator, to promote industry and academic collaborations on technical solutions and transition to practice to protect privacy. The project includes the following activities: design of a survey to industry privacy leaders to provide input on future of privacy technology as relates to their business and policy needs and objectives; administering a survey to industry privacy leaders at meetings; and preparation of a report that will provide a summary and analysis of the industry response, identifying research as well as business opportunities, to fill gaps in the current privacy technology landscape and recommended action(s) that can be taken.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.