August 1, 2023
Painting with a wide brushstroke, there are three kinds of data: data at rest; data in transit; and data in use. Today, we speak to the person who pioneered the concept of protecting data in use. Her name is Dr. Ellison Ann Williams and has an impressive background, having an MS in Mathematics, an MS in Computer Science, and a Ph.D. In Mathematics. Additionally, she served at the NSA for ten years and has a thorough knowledge of federal security requirements.
Let us state the challenge:
Tech companies are scraping the Internet for as much information about users as they can. Storage is cheap, and they are running amuck. The regulation came in a delayed, haphazard, and geographically disparate manner.
On the other hand, this kind of information can assist communities to help solve common problems. Allowing cross-border and cross-sector collaboration can result in impressive results. It is possible that longitudinal studies derived from this “scraped” information can help in medical analysis.
"Privacy Enhancing Technologies are indeed a family of technologies"
Dr. Williams suggests that innovation in Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PET) can balance both requirements. Further, the technology that allows for advances in-store & compute can also help to provide PET innovation.
During the interview, Dr. Williams introduces homomorphic encryption. This is certainly not the place to dive into what it means for the federal audience. You may want to go to enveil.com/FAQ to start your understanding.
Collecting data is easy, figuring out how to use it to benefit humankind and, at the same time, protecting privacy is the new world we live in. Dr. Ellison Anne Williams has some solutions.
If you enjoyed this article, you may want to listen to Ep. 78 What’s How and What’s not at the AWS Washington Conference
John Gilroy
John Gilroy appeared on National Public Radio in Washington DC for 25 years. He has written 523 technology columns for The Washington Post. Currently, John is an award-winning lecturer at Georgetown University. Forgot to mention — he has recorded over 1,000 podcast episodes.
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