We’re excited to share that OpenMined’s technology and contributions have been acknowledged in the U.S. government’s “National Strategy to Advance Privacy-Preserving Data Sharing and Analytics,” released in March 2023 by the National Science and Technology Council.
PySyft Enabling International Data Collaboration
The report highlights OpenMined’s flagship open source library – PySyft – as a key technology enabling secure international data collaboration in a case study:
Case Study: xD | U.S. Census Bureau & UN PET Lab
Challenge: The United Nations Statistical Division realized the importance and opportunity of PETs for National Statistical Organizations across the world. Yet, it is often difficult to test the capabilities and realities of these possibilities. A small group of countries joined to form the UN PET Lab, a space to pilot the use of these technologies, experiment, share, and learn together. The Census Bureau represents the United States through its emerging technologies group, xD.
Approach: In 2022, the UN PET Lab ran a pilot study to test the ability to query data across a network made up of the countries and the UN without seeing the data itself. They did this by deploying PySyft and loading in open trade data to de-risk initial testing. Several PPDSA techniques were used, including aspects of remote execution, secure multiparty computation, and differential privacy to enable each country to compare import and export statistics without fully accessing them. The Census Bureau also utilized aspects of Zero Trust as part of this deployment.
Impact: This pilot represents one of the first feasibility studies utilizing PPDSA techniques in this way and in an international context, illustrating the effectiveness and capabilities of PPDSA technologies today and encouraging their continued adoption and future potential. It also suggests that models like the UN PET Lab may be promising structures for organizing around PPDSA technologies and continuing to build out what further impact could look like.
The Importance of Privacy-Preserving Data Sharing
The National Strategy emphasizes that privacy-preserving data sharing and analytics (PPDSA) technologies can “unlock the beneficial power of data analysis while protecting privacy.” As outlined in the report, PPDSA enables valuable data collaboration across government, academia, and industry without compromising sensitive information. These technologies—including secure multiparty computation, homomorphic encryption, differential privacy, and synthetic data generation—allow organizations to derive insights from data that would otherwise remain siloed due to privacy concerns. The report lays out five strategic priorities to advance these technologies:
- Advance governance and responsible adoption
- Elevate and promote foundational and use-inspired research
- Accelerate translation to practice
- Build expertise and promote training and education
- Foster international collaboration on PPDSA
By implementing PPDSA solutions, stakeholders can address major societal challenges like climate change, public health, financial crime, and social equity through data-driven approaches while still affirming democratic values and fundamental rights to privacy. This represents a crucial balance between technological innovation and privacy protection in our increasingly data-driven world.
Looking Forward
The report’s vision statement reminds readers of the important purpose these technologies play in broader societal efforts:
“Privacy-preserving data sharing and analytics technologies help advance the well-being and prosperity of individuals and society, and promote science and innovation in a manner that affirms democratic values.“
As the U.S. government continues to implement this strategy, in service of this vision, OpenMined remains committed to continuing to contribute to this important field and pushing forward the state-of-the-art.
