Is the anonymisation of data a futile exercise?

An ASC/MRS Evening Debate

Overview:

Come and hear leaders in survey research debate the pros and cons of the anonymisation of data in our parliamentary style debate with the motion:

“This house believes that the anonymisation of data is a futile exercise”.

On the face of it, anonymous data should be a given in market and social research. A fundamental principal of research is a contract of confidentiality between researcher and participant. Recent developments, such as the Edward Snowden disclosures and security breaches at widely used internet sites such as Ebay have shown how vulnerable any data accessed over the Internet is to potential disclosure. Such high profile cases have drawn the attention of the public, and they have also drawn the attention of legislators.

Legislators and regulators now appear to be putting their faith in anonymisation of data as a technological panacea for privacy and confidentiality. There are advantages and there are disadvantages to this approach. Proponents see it as a way of enforcing discipline and rebuilding public trust; detractors see unintended consequences in emasculating datasets so as to make them meaningless from a research perspective, and closing off valuable research that relies on data linkage, especially between survey data and passively collected data. And there is more, as our panel of debaters will reveal.

Speakers:
For the motion: Matthew Applegate (Rewired State) and Dr Dan Nunan (Henley Business School)
Against the motion: Dan Foreman (ESOMAR) and Barry Ryan (MRS)
Chair: Steve Taylor (weworkwithdata)

Time: 6pm till 9pm, including a buffet supper