Data anonymization network launches amid privacy concerns

A consortium of data stewards launched an informal network last week that looks to promote the anonymization of personal information in Canada in the wake of data privacy concerns sweeping the globe. Co-founded by AccessPrivacy, Privacy Analytics Inc., Symcor Inc. and Telus Corp. -- with members including Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. -- the Canadian Anonymization Network (CANON) wants to help set standards under which Canadian companies manage data, ideally allowing them to keep collecting data on customers without breaching anyone’s privacy. CANON is looking to create, over three years, a consolidated library of legal, policy and technical standards in data anonymization that its members can refer to when they implement their data collection practices. Canadians habitually hand over a host of personally-identifiable information whenever they sign up for products or services. This information is then either collated into bigger datasets and/or sold to corporations to guide ad and product development -- often without encrypting the data. Data anonymization is one of the ways that companies can limit their intrusion into users’ privacy. The process involves either encrypting or removing personally-identifiable markers -- names, addresses, dates of birth -- from data sets, so that people who have either shared or had personal information collected on them can maintain their anonymity. Companies that want to conduct research on that data generally have to make sure that this data cannot be used to identify a study participant, and that involves deleting personal information from the data sets they build. Facebook Inc., whose representatives sat before the International Grand Committee on disinformation and fake news this week, exemplifies this concern. By aggregating personal data over multiple platforms like Facebook-owned WhatsApp and Instagram, Facebook gives advertisers a more complete impression of its users. After all, it was previously embroiled in a data controversy with Cambridge Analytica. Following its investigation into Facebook's data practices in the wake of that scandal, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner has decided to take the data-giant to court. In light of this, regulators have been looking into ways to protect consumers from unnecessary breaches of their privacy. The announcement of CANON’s launch came last week on Thursday -- two days after Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Minister Navdeep Bains unveiled the government’s new Digital Charter, which includes reforms to privacy laws that give Canadians more control over their personal information. In its launch, CANON welcomed the new Digital Charter, describing it as a document “filled with encouraging signs of support for codes of practice and industry standards.” Sometimes data markers are deleted, sometimes they are simply obscured from people without the clearance to view it -- but in either case, CANON's goal is to separate the individual from the answers they provide. By developing a framework on how to do this, CANON said it believes organizations linked to its mission will be able to “demonstrate accountability” to regulators on demand, while still preserving the utility of the data they have collected. It is as of yet unclear how precisely CANON aims to do this. MIT research has shown three data points can be enough to identify an individual from a data set, and in an email to The Wire Report, AccessPrivacy’s Patricia Kosseim explained that “de-identifying data while maintaining data utility is a highly complex endeavor.”

Data anonymization network launches amid privacy concerns

Brief | May 31, 2019

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Data anonymization network launches amid privacy concerns

Brief | May 31, 2019

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