On May 25, a discussion day “Topical issues of data regulation and development of anonymization methods in Russia” was held. The event was organized by the Big Data Association (ADB) and the Alliance for Artificial Intelligence (AI Alliance) in partnership with the National Center for Digital Economy of the Lomonosov Moscow State University, the base organization for the NTI Competence Center for Big Data, and the Institute of the Information Society (IIS). The discussion day was attended by representatives of state authorities, business and academia. In particular, Yuri Hohlov, chairman of the IIS Board of directors, head of the Big Data Monitoring and Standardization Project at the NTI Competence Center for Big Data, made a presentation.
The main goal of the event was to provide an opportunity for participants to exchange expert opinions on the most important issues of data regulation in the Russian Federation and then identify areas for further discussion and possible steps to develop the most balanced approach to solving problems in this area, the organizers shared.
The event was attended by representatives of the Presidential Administration of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia, the Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology, and Mass Media (Roskomnadzor), ANO “Digital Economy”, the Analytical Center for the Government of the Russian Federation, the Institute for Internet Research, the Russian Academy of Cryptography, the Institute of Digital Environment Law of the Higher School of Economics, member companies of the AI Alliance ABD, as well as scientific and R&D oragnizations.
The discussion day was devoted to the current aspects of anonymization of personal data, which is the defining procedure for increasing the availability of data in order to develop AI technologies. During the event, experts discussed international experience and jurisprudence in the field of big data; international approaches to the regulation of data anonymization; security of AI systems and methods of depersonalization; possible models of depersonalization; international and national data standards; national policy of working with data in the Russian Federation, including existing problems, gaps, as well as prospects for the development of this area.
The discussion was moderated by Anna Serebryanikova, president of the ADB, and Andrei Neznamov, managing director and head of the AI Regulation Center of Sberbank, head of the working group on regulation of the AI Alliance.
The leitmotif of the discussion was the thesis that initiatives related to the use and regulation of anonymized data are primarily designed to protect the rights and freedoms of citizens. Anna Serebryanikova said: “The key value of anonymized data is that with its help it is possible to significantly increase the security of citizens and their personal data (by limiting the use of the second). That is why it is very important to discuss approaches and methods of anonymization at all levels and reach a consensus on the regulation of anonymization as soon as possible. Creation of a trusted environment and testing of methods of depersonalization within the framework of experimental legal regimes are also important conditions.”
Andrey Neznamov noted the importance of developing data regulation for AI technologies: “It is extremely important for Russia to find the most balanced approach to the development of data regulation, as it affects all new technologies, primarily artificial intelligence. It is necessary to ensure a high level of protection of the rights of citizens and at the same time create conditions for the secure use of data for the development of machine learning. The opportunity to find such a balance is created in a dialogue between all interested parties. This was the purpose of our event”.
Yuri Hohlov, chairman of the IIS Board of directors, project manager of the NTI Competence Center for Big Data at Moscow State University made the report “National policy of working with data in the Russian Federation. International and national standards in the field of data” (in Russian).
Sources: Alliance of AI, NTI Competence Center for Big Data at MSU.