UK academics are working with the IT industry to stem the deluge
of
personal data on the internet.
Through a £3.6m
project called Encore (Ensuring Consent and Revocation),
security experts are trying to solve problems caused by the
uncontrolled flow of personal data.
Researchers from
HP's
Systems Security Lab in Bristol are the project leaders of the
Encore Team. The rest come from
WMG at the
University of Warwick, QinetiQ, HW Communications, Oxford
University's Ethox Centre legal department, and regulation and
business experts from the London School of Economics (LSE).
Encore is jointly funded by the
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the
Economic and Social Research Council and the
Technology Strategy Board. It will help businesses and
government adopt scalable, cost-effective and robust consent and
revocation methods, for controlling the use, storing, locating and
sharing of personal data.
At present, people have no way of controlling how their personal
information is used. Nor can people ensure data is deleted, when
requested, from databases.
Often such details are handed to third parties, making the
control of personal data even harder. Millions of people shop
online every day and data leakage and identity fraud are growing
concerns.
The Encore participants say the response should be to develop
technology as easy to use as turning a tap on or off.
Professor Sadie Creese, head of WMG's e-Security Team, said:
"There are plenty of occasions when we want to be able to share our
information but we need more control over the process. If we turn
the tap on we need to know our data is only flowing where we want
it to. If we turn the tap off, there must be no leaks."
Encore project director Pete Bramhall, of HP Labs, said, "With
leading researchers the Encore project has a strong industrial team
that will deliver leading-edge, privacy-enhancing technology and
services to private and public-sector organisations."
Sadie Creese will head up the team developing the technology to
enable more control over data. Experts at Oxford University and the
London School of Economics (LSE) will tackle user requirements, the
legal framework and regulation.
The Encore project will run for the next three-and-a-half
years.