Differential Privacy: Issues for Policymakers

A Simons Institute white paper developed with support from a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation by Vitaly Feldman, Konstantin Kakaes, Katrina Ligett, Kobbi Nissim1, Aleksandra Slavkovic, and Adam Smith Introduction Modern computing and communications make it possible to gather and analyze enormous quantities of granular information about individuals. The structure of our economy not only enables the collection and analysis of such information, but requires it. Participation in everyday life in the industrialized world now requires the constant sharing of highly detailed personal data. This transformation took place so quickly that policymaking institutions in industry and government have not had time to come to terms with it. They have so far failed to account for not only the magnitude of data being collected, but also the potential harms and misuses of this data via cleverly designed algorithms that can operate on private information that had supposedly been safeguarded.

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• Shruti Das