Data Policy Network

Privitar Data Policy Network

Data is transforming our lives. From the funny memes we see on social media to a life-or-death medical diagnosis. Innovation, whether personalised social media feeds or personalised medicine, relies on collecting, using and sharing personal data. The legal, ethical, regulatory, economic and technological context guides decisions on what data to collect, how to use it and whether to share it.

We shouldn’t make those decisions alone. Collaboration helps us to find the best answers to the most difficult data policy questions and to adapt as the context changes. Our Data Policy Network (DPN) brings together professionals across disciplines with a common interest in data policy.

We support the network by:

Publishing The Data Policy Briefing, our newsletter, once every two months. You can read the latest issue and subscribe. The Data Policy Briefing is a platform for members to connect, share insights and find opportunities.

Hosting invitation-only Data Policy Evenings every two to three months on topics ranging from the value of data to AI & data minimisation. We invite a leading guest speaker on the topic to share their reflections then break into small groups to discuss the issues in depth, all under the Chatham House rule. Recent guest speakers include Jeni Tennison (ODI) and Reuben Binns (ICO). Reach out if you’d like to attend.

Collaborating with DPN members on joint projects, events and speaking engagements. We’re keen to share our expertise and collaborate on specific challenges in the sectors we’re most familiar with. We’re open to ideas.

Past Events

Data Policy Network “Data sovereignty”

Our first Data Policy Network event of 2021 explored data sovereignty with three expert speakers. We considered the current state of play, the policy objectives driving change and how technology can play a role in resolving some of the tension between limiting data to national silos while encouraging global enterprise.

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Protected Characteristics in Health Data

The One HealthTech community and Privitar are hosting a community hangout to discuss health data sharing and protected characteristics such as age, race, sexual orientation and disability.

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Data Policy Evening: The Value of Data

Valuing data is difficult, and vitally important. The Value of Data, a recent report by the ODI, Bennett Institute and Nuffield Foundation, makes a significant step forward in the debate.

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Data Policy Evening: Data Minimization & AI

The Big Data paradigm assumes that more is better: more data, collected from more sources means that we can make better predictions.

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Data Policy Evening: Facial Recognition

Facial recognition has stepped off the sci fi movie screen into our lives. While we welcome the convenience of using it to unlock our phones or breeze through airport security, other uses are more concerning.

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Data Policy Evening: AdTech

Please come along to our next data policy evening on Tuesday the 10th September. The theme for the evening will be ‘Adtech’ and we’re very pleased to be welcoming Dr Michael Veale, one of the attendees of our first ever policy evening, a leading voice in the field, and a key agitator in the unfurling adtech story, providing his reflections on the issue.

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Data Policy Evening: Equitability

In recent years there has been much discussion about the need to improve access to data to boost AI in the UK. New ideas such as data trusts are starting to be explored to achieve this goal, with the ODI recently commissioned to run two data trust pilots.

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