MIT Future of Data, Trust, and Privacy Initiative (FOD)

The aim is to work with industry to develop privacy-preserving tools and research at MIT that will help shape the future of data governance.

The confluence of powerful data analytics, artificial intelligence, and global information platforms together with changing social attitudes about personal data are transforming both the policy and technology landscape. To address these global privacy challenges, the MIT Internet Policy Research Initiative (IPRI) and the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) are launching the MIT Future of Data, Trust, and Privacy, a lab initiative with the goal of bringing state-of-the-art MIT computer science research together with world-leading public policy expertise and engagement. The initiative is an opportunity for industry partners to work with MIT researchers on new policy-informed, technical approaches to today’s privacy challenges; to understand the implications of new laws such as the GDPR; and to lead a global dialogue with policymakers, civil society, and industry leaders as we shape the future of privacy and data governance. We are inviting a small group of organizations to help us build this research initiative.

The MIT Future of Data, Trust, and Privacy initiative will lead technical research on privacy-enhancing data systems and analytic techniques, create a policy dialogue with extensive public engagement, and develop new educational opportunities related to data governance technology and public policy.

Launched in April 2020 the MIT Future of Data, Trust, and Privacy initiative (FOD) will involve collaboration between experts specializing in five distinct technical areas: database systems; applied cryptography; AI and machine learning; data portability and new information architectures; and human-computer interaction.

In addition to technical research, FOD will provide forums for dialogue amongst MIT researchers, policymakers, and industry consortium members, with a structure similar to MIT’s 2019 AI Policy Congress, which included members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.