HIDE – Homeland Security, Biometric Identification & Personal Detection Ethics

Focus Groups on Privacy Enhancing Technologies

Activity Leader: Centre for the Economic and Social aspects of Genomics
Scientific Coordinator: Dr. Paul McCarthy

Venue and Date

• May 14, 2010 in Manchester (t.b.c.), United Kingdom
  
  

Discuss your opinion with us

Past Focus Group Meetings

• October 16, 2009 in London, United Kingdom
  Download the Report
  Download the Background and Agenda
  Participants: Katja Lindskov Jacobsen (CESAGEN), Pete Bramhall/Hewlett-Packard Laboratories, USA; Michiel van der Veen/privID, Netherlands; Sotiris Ioannidis/Foundation for Research and Technology, Greece
  
• May 30, 2008 in Manchester, United Kingdom
  Download the Report and Agenda
  Participants: Ruth Chadwick (CESAGEN), Paul McCarthy (CESAGEN), Emilio Mordini (CSSC), Xuebing Zhou (FRAUNHOFER), Irma van der Ploeg (ZUYD), Michiel van der Veen, Juliet Lodge, Jonathan Bamford, Niovi Ringou
  

Methodology

This activity has three methodological components designed to facilitate the production of an ethical brief on Privacy Enhancing Technologies.

1. Focus Groups Meetings
   Three focus group meetings are planned for the activity with a similar structure to be used in each. The first element of the focus groups is the production of a background discussion document framing the key issues to be discussed by the focus group. Secondly 4 invited speakers are asked to present on topics relevant to the issues to be covered by the focus group discussion. Finally each focus group meeting has a round-table discussion aimed at identifying issues of concern. A set of detailed minutes of the focus meeting is then provided to all participants.
2. Document Analysis
   This broad methodological component has a number of sub-activities. These activities themselves are key links between focus group meetings in the production of data relevant to highlighting and identifying ethical issues involved in PETS. These activities are compiling an annotated bibliography to analyse what issues are debated/examined in the literature, incorporating a variety of sources, academic, non-academic, governmental and commercial. To conducting research using ‘issue crawler’ software with the aim of mapping ‘PET’ agencies and analysing how they link and to compile an informational map of potential expert contacts relevant to the workpackage. To compile a document database in tandem with the annotated bibliography to serve as a comprehensive resource for research on the ethical implications associated with PETs.
3. Wiki-Report
   As the chosen method for writing the final ethical brief, the wiki will function as a collaborative writing exercise between the focus group organisers, facilitating a high-quality outcome reflecting the contribution of all FG organisers. Focus group participants, invited experts as well as project participants will have access to and the ability to contribute to the production of the final wiki report. In terms of increasing the interactivity and accessibility of the wiki it is expected that deliverables produced by the document analysis activities described above will be integrated with the wiki report.

Mission Statement

Framing the investigation of this work package are 3 objectives set out by the Commission in a Communication on PETs (May 2007). These 3 objectives are

1. Support the development of PETs,
2. Encourage the use of PETs by data controllers and
3. Encourage the use of PETs by consumers.

The focus group, the document analysis and the wiki-report are all aimed at addressing these three objectives by identifying issues of concern and possible technological solutions, mapping actors using / developing PETs, and producing a final brief that links and summarises the findings. The final report of the workpackage exploring the ethical implications of PETs will therefore serve to address these objectives by being a critical synthesis of the major ethical implications that arise out of the development and deployment of PETs. This report will also then satisfy the mission objectives of the workpackage activity in producing a report which is timely, informative and of use to the Commission, the Public, industry and other interested actors and organisations influenced by or who have roles to play in the development and use of PETs in a European context.