In de Guardian verscheen het artikel Can a new form of cryptography solve the internet’s privacy problem?, waarin hoog wordt opgegeven van ‘privacy-enhancing technologies’, oftewel ‘PETs’. De Europese cybersecurity organisatie ENISA is positief over PETs:

The idea of shaping technology according to privacy principles has been discussed since many years, addressing among other the principles of data minimisation, anonymisation and pseudonymisation. This led to the term Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs), which covers the broader range of technologies that are designed for supporting privacy and data protection.

ENISA has been active in PETs for many years, collaborating closely with privacy experts from academia and industry, as well as following relevant research and development in the field through platforms like the Internet Privacy Engineering Network (IPEN) and relevant conferences.

Our most prominent activity to this effect is the organisation of the Annual Privacy Forum, which aims to bring industry, research and policy makers together in discussing privacy technologies.

Nu overheden door middel van machine learning (ML) en artificial intelligence (AI) misdaad en ander ongewenst gedrag willen opsporen en het nodig is om de computer te ‘trainen’ met grote hoeveelheden data (inclusief persoonsgegevens), is de vraag of privacy bevorderende technieken kunnen voorkomen voorkomen dat grondrechten schendende activiteiten plaats vinden.

Ook Transactiemonitoring Nederland (TMNL), de organisatie die het bancaire sleepnet verzorgt, zegt van PETs gebruik te maken.

Ik maak me grote zorgen.

Achtergrond:

• Privacy enhancing technologies, European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA).
• The Internet Privacy Engineering Network (IPEN).
• EDPB: Guidelines 4/2019 on Article 25 Data Protection by Design and by Default, oktober 2022.
• EDPS: Privacy by Default, Privacy by Design.
• Wikipedia uitleg over PETs.