The Vision of Privacy under the Evidence Act: Exploring the Five Safes

Recording

Access The Five Safes - 2023 Slides

Overview

The Evidence Act (the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act) realized recommendations from the bipartisan Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking, which created a roadmap for how data and evidence could be put to routine use in the business of government and policymaking. To make this vision a reality, the Commission carefully considered how to think about privacy. What are the current privacy protections in place to keep people safe and their data confidential? How can researchers and evaluators support better policy and respect privacy? In the first part of a three-part conversation, speakers explored the thinking behind the privacy considerations that went into the Commission’s vision for privacy-protected use of data for evidence building, and what has happened since. Read more about the series below.

Speakers

• Nick Hart, Ph.D., President, Data Foundation
• Michael Hawes, Senior Survey Statistician for Scientific Communication, U.S. Census Bureau
• Margaret Levenstein, Director, Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)
• Jasmin Phua, Head of Health Systems and Government Solutions, Datavant
• Shea Swauger, Senior Researcher for Data Sharing and Ethics, Future of Privacy Forum
• Corinna Turbes,  Policy Director, Data Foundation

About this Series

The Foundations for Evidence-based Policymaking Act sought to change the way we use data in government to create policy. The law improves access to federal data so that agencies and policymakers can craft better, more effective policy and programs, and deliver on services promised to the country. However, these benefits must be realized in meaningful, appropriate privacy-protected environments. How should we think about privacy in the era of big data and data sharing? What are the new technologies that our policy and regulations must respond to? And perhaps more importantly, how do we ensure that the risks and benefits are appropriately calibrated?

Join the Data Foundation, with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, for a 3 part series to discuss these important issues and new ways to think about protecting privacy in a data driven world. 

• Webinar 1:The Vision of Privacy under the Evidence Act: Exploring the Five Safes
• Webinar 2: Evidence Act Regulations: Public Trust and the Presumption of Accessibility
• Webinar 3: Working with Partners: Evidence Act and State Laws

At these webinars, attendees will learn about key provisions in the Evidence Act, current approaches to privacy from a policy lens, and important considerations in crafting policy and regulations that address privacy concerns. 

These webinars are designed to help non-technical audiences understand key challenges in implementing privacy policy and assist technical experts in understanding how policymakers are approaching privacy. 

After each webinar, attendees will be invited to join our Public Health Data Policy Exchange to discuss what these new privacy dynamics mean for public health data and how these topics can support their work.