The Biden administration is collaborating with the U.K. government to launch prize challenges that aim to advance the development of privacy-enhancing technologies designed to fight cross-border money laundering and other financial crimes.
The White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Standards and Technology have been working with the Center for Data Ethics and Innovation and Innovate U.K. since the bilateral project was announced in December, the U.K. government said Monday.
PETs will work to enable authorities to secure financial information sharing, identify suspicious behaviors without compromising the privacy of individuals or requiring the transfer of personal data from another country or institution.
“Data can be marshaled to make life easier and more just. But too often, powerful data tools are instead used to deepen inequality and threaten our most basic freedoms. The PETs prize challenges seek to close that gap and demonstrate how these tools can be used responsibly to achieve their potential across many areas,” said Alondra Nelson, director of the OSTP.
Earlier this month, OSTP released a request for information to determine how to pursue the development and use of PETs in a manner that promotes trust in data processing and information technologies and increases equity for underserved or marginalized groups.