Yale Bulletin and Calendar

November 7, 2003|Volume 32, Number 10

Computer scientists to develop
ways to protect privacy online

The National Science Foundation (NSF) recently awarded investigators in the Department of Computer Science $3.9 million to study the problems of preserving privacy of sensitive information while permitting large scale data searching and management.

Investigators in the department will develop technical, legal and social approaches to the challenge of satisfying individual privacy while maintaining access to important information. Identity theft, security and anonymity of medical health records, and telemarketing "do-not-call lists" are among the issues the study will tackle.

"Sensitive data can be protected by encryption while it is in transmission from source to destination," says Joan Feigenbaum, professor of computer science and an investigator on the study. "This project addresses what happens after data reaches its destination and has to be decrypted for use."

While easy access to information can be an advantage -- allowing individuals to shop, bank and set up appointments from their home computers, it can also be a potential hazard -- making credit card, social security number and personal information available to unreliable or fraudulent businesses.

The Yale researchers will explore the relationship between how the technology works and how it is used. The project looks at legal and social issues and the role they play in technology development and implementation.

"Some, but not all, areas of data management have legal regulation in place," Feigenbaum says. "One example of an area in which there are regulations is the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, covering personal health-related data. It is interesting from the point of view of this project, because there is still a need for improved integration of privacy protection mechanisms with database management systems."

Other investigators are Avi Silverschatz, professor of computer science, and Ravindran Kannan, the William K. Lanman Jr. Professor of Computer Science.

This project is one of eight large collaborations funded this year by NSF's Information Technology Research (ITR) program. The partner institutions in the Sensitive-Information ITR Project -- which will be awarded $12.5 million over five years -- are Yale, Stanford, the University of New Mexico, New York University and the Stevens Institute of Technology. Non-funded affiliates include the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Census Bureau, the Department of Health and Human Services, Microsoft, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Citigroup, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Yale Law School and the Yale Center for Medical Informatics.

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Women astronauts will talk about their 'Place in Space'

Computer scientists to develop ways to protect privacy online

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Her native landscape inspires Irish writer's 'desperate themes'

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Memory-enhancing drugs may actually worsen . . .

Dr. Robert Arnstein, counselor to generations of students, dies

World-renowned oncologist Dr. Paul Calabresi passes away

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Symposium will examine 'American Literary Globalism' . . .

Koerner Center to showcase emeritus faculty member's works

Researchers sequence and analyze the DNA of an ancient parasite

Two books on slavery are winners of the Douglass Prize

United Way Campaign nears halfway mark in meeting its goal

Yale Books in Brief

Campus Notes