# Privacy Tools for Sharing Research Data ## Privacy Tools for Sharing Research Data Information technology, advances in statistical computing, and the deluge of data available through the Internet are transforming computational social science. However, a major challenge is maintaining the privacy of human subjects. This project is a broad, multidisciplinary effort to help enable the collection, analysis, and sharing of sensitive data while providing privacy for individual subjects. Bringing together computer science, social science, statistics, and law, the investigators seek to refine and develop definitions and measures of privacy and data utility, and design an array of technological, legal, and policy tools for dealing with sensitive data. In addition to contributing to research infrastructure around the world, the ideas developed in this project will benefit society more broadly as it grapples with data privacy issues in many other domains, including public health and electronic commerce. This project will define and measure privacy in both mathematical and legal terms, and explore alternate definitions of privacy that may be more general or more practical. The project will study variants of differential privacy and develop new theoretical results for use in contexts where it is currently inappropriate or impractical. The research will provide a better understanding of the practical performance and usability of a variety of algorithms for analyzing and sharing privacy-sensitive data. The project will develop secure implementations of these algorithms and legal instruments, which will be made publicly available and used to enable wider access to privacy-sensitive data sets at the Harvard Institute for Quantitative Social Science's Dataverse Network. *For more information, see the original proposed project description to NSF (2012) in PDF format below.* ### Senior Personnel expand\_more [### Salil Vadhan ](/people/salil-vadhan)Principal Investigator Vicky Joseph Professor of Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, SEAS, Harvard ![salil-vadhan.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/privacytools/files/salil-vadhan.jpg?itok=Ba7yWYPB) [### Edoardo (Edo) Airoldi ](/people/edoardo-edo-airoldi)Assistant Professor of Statistics, Harvard ![airoldi.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/airoldi.jpg?itok=fM5MSkm1) [### Micah Altman ](/people/micah-altman)Director of Research and Head/Scientist, Program on Information Science for the MIT Libraries, MIT Non-Resident Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution Current Member of Datatags Team ![drmaltman_1315862855_45.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/drmaltman_1315862855_45.jpg?itok=UAYee9D8) [### Stephen Chong ](/people/stephen-chong)Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science, SEAS, Harvard Current Member of Datatags Team ![chong-jul13-01.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/privacytools/files/chong-jul13-01.jpg?itok=To9WDGtI) [### Mercè Crosas ](/people/merc%C3%A8-crosas)Co-PI Director of Data Science, IQSS, Harvard ![crosas.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/crosas_1.jpg?itok=QUNkHVCk) [### Marco Gaboardi ](/people/marco-gaboardi)Visiting Scholar, Center for Research on Computation & Society State University of New York at Buffalo Current Member of Datatags Team ![io.jpg](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/styles/hwp_4_5__690x865/public/privacytools/files/io.jpg?itok=zB7vqRoi) - Previous page chevron\_left - [1](?page=0 "Current page") - [2](?page=1 "Go to page 2") - [3](?page=2 "Go to page 3") - [ Next page chevron\_right ](?page=1 "Go to next page") ### Publications expand\_more Download 61 citations download- [BibTeX](/bibcite/export?pager_style=standard_pager&number_of_items=10&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_agenda%5D&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_grants%5D%5B0%5D%5Btarget_id%5D=90306&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_research1234567%5D&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_presentations%5D&&&format=bibtex) - [EndNote X3 XML](/bibcite/export?pager_style=standard_pager&number_of_items=10&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_agenda%5D&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_grants%5D%5B0%5D%5Btarget_id%5D=90306&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_research1234567%5D&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_presentations%5D&&&format=endnote8) - [EndNote 7 XML](/bibcite/export?pager_style=standard_pager&number_of_items=10&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_agenda%5D&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_grants%5D%5B0%5D%5Btarget_id%5D=90306&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_research1234567%5D&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_presentations%5D&&&format=endnote7) - [Endnote tagged](/bibcite/export?pager_style=standard_pager&number_of_items=10&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_agenda%5D&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_grants%5D%5B0%5D%5Btarget_id%5D=90306&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_research1234567%5D&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_presentations%5D&&&format=tagged) - [Marc](/bibcite/export?pager_style=standard_pager&number_of_items=10&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_agenda%5D&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_grants%5D%5B0%5D%5Btarget_id%5D=90306&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_research1234567%5D&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_presentations%5D&&&format=marc) - [PubMedId](/bibcite/export?pager_style=standard_pager&number_of_items=10&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_agenda%5D&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_grants%5D%5B0%5D%5Btarget_id%5D=90306&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_research1234567%5D&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_presentations%5D&&&format=pubmed_id) - [RIS](/bibcite/export?pager_style=standard_pager&number_of_items=10&sort_field=bibcite_year--desc&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_agenda%5D&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_grants%5D%5B0%5D%5Btarget_id%5D=90306&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_research1234567%5D&taxonomy_filters%5Bfield_hwp_c_presentations%5D&&&format=ris) ### 2020 Marco Gaboardi, Kobbi Nissim, and David Purser. 2020. “[The Complexity of Verifying Loop-Free Programs As Differentially Private](/publications/complexity-verifying-loop-free-programs-differentially-private)”. In 47th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages and Programming (To Appear - ICALP 2020) Marco Gaboardi, Kobbi Nissim, and David Purser. 2020. “[The Complexity of Verifying Loop-Free Programs As Differentially Private](/publications/complexity-verifying-loop-free-programs-differentially-private)”. In 47th International Colloquium on Automata, Languages and Programming (To Appear - ICALP 2020) - add\_circle\_outline do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://arxiv.org/abs/1911.03272) - [ picture\_as\_pdfARXIV.pdf](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/1911.03272.pdf) We study the problem of verifying differential privacy for loop-free programs with probabilistic choice. Programs in this class can be seen as randomized Boolean circuits, which we will use as a formal model to answer two different questions: first... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://arxiv.org/abs/1911.03272) - [ picture\_as\_pdfARXIV.pdf](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/1911.03272.pdf) ### 2019 Victor Balcer and Salil Vadhan. 2019. “[Differential Privacy on Finite Computers](/publications/differential-privacy-finite-computers)”. Journal of Privacy and Confidentiality, 9, 2 Victor Balcer and Salil Vadhan. 2019. “[Differential Privacy on Finite Computers](/publications/differential-privacy-finite-computers)”. Journal of Privacy and Confidentiality, 9, 2 - add\_circle\_outline do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://journalprivacyconfidentiality.org/index.php/jpc/article/view/679) - [ picture\_as\_pdfJPC 2019](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/sept_2019_-jpc.pdf) - [ picture\_as\_pdfITCS 2018](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/itcs.pdf) - [ picture\_as\_pdfArXiv](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/diff_priv.pdf) **Version History:** Also presented at TPDP 2017; preliminary version posted as [arXiv:1709.05396 \[cs.DS\]](https://arxiv.org/abs/1709.05396). 2018: Published in Anna R. Karlin, editor, 9th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2018), volume 94 of *Leibniz International*... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://journalprivacyconfidentiality.org/index.php/jpc/article/view/679) - [ picture\_as\_pdfJPC 2019](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/sept_2019_-jpc.pdf) - [ picture\_as\_pdfITCS 2018](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/itcs.pdf) - [ picture\_as\_pdfArXiv](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/diff_priv.pdf) ### 2018 Kobbi Nissim, Thomas Steinke, Alexandra Wood, Micah Altman, Aaron Bembenek, Mark Bun, Marco Gaboardi, David O’Brien, and Salil Vadhan. 2018. “[Differential Privacy: A Primer for a Non-Technical Audience](http://www.jetlaw.org/journal-archives/volume-21/volume-21-issue-1/differential-privacy-a-primer-for-a-non-technical-audience/)”. Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law , 21, 1, Pp. 209-76 Kobbi Nissim, Thomas Steinke, Alexandra Wood, Micah Altman, Aaron Bembenek, Mark Bun, Marco Gaboardi, David O’Brien, and Salil Vadhan. 2018. “[Differential Privacy: A Primer for a Non-Technical Audience](http://www.jetlaw.org/journal-archives/volume-21/volume-21-issue-1/differential-privacy-a-primer-for-a-non-technical-audience/)”. Vanderbilt Journal of Entertainment and Technology Law , 21, 1, Pp. 209-76 - add\_circle\_outline do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ picture\_as\_pdfPreliminary Version](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/nissim_et_al_-_differential_privacy_primer_for_non-technical_audiences_1.pdf) - [ picture\_as\_pdfUpdated Version](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/pedagogical-document-dp_new.pdf) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/differential_privacy_a_primer.pdf) This document is a primer on differential privacy, which is a formal mathematical framework for guaranteeing privacy protection when analyzing or releasing statistical data. Recently emerging from the theoretical computer science literature, differential... - [ picture\_as\_pdfPreliminary Version](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/nissim_et_al_-_differential_privacy_primer_for_non-technical_audiences_1.pdf) - [ picture\_as\_pdfUpdated Version](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/pedagogical-document-dp_new.pdf) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/differential_privacy_a_primer.pdf) Jack Murtagh and Salil Vadhan. 2018. “[The Complexity of Computing the Optimal Composition of Differential Privacy](/publications/complexity-computing-optimal-composition-differential-privacy)”. In Theory of Cryptography Conference (TCC 2016), 8th ed., 14:Pp. 1-35. Theory of Computing (2018) Jack Murtagh and Salil Vadhan. 2018. “[The Complexity of Computing the Optimal Composition of Differential Privacy](/publications/complexity-computing-optimal-composition-differential-privacy)”. In Theory of Cryptography Conference (TCC 2016), 8th ed., 14:Pp. 1-35. Theory of Computing (2018) - add\_circle\_outline do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://theoryofcomputing.org/articles/v014a008/) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/murtaghvadhan.pdf) In the study of differential privacy, composition theorems (starting with the original paper of Dwork, McSherry, Nissim, and Smith (TCC'06)) bound the degradation of privacy when composing several differentially private algorithms. Kairouz, Oh, and... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](http://theoryofcomputing.org/articles/v014a008/) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/murtaghvadhan.pdf) K. Nissim, Bembenek, Wood, Bun, Gaboardi, U. Gasser, O’Brien, Steinke, and S. Vadhan. 2018. “[Bridging the Gap Between Computer Science and Legal Approaches to Privacy ](/publications/bridging-gap-between-computer-science-and-legal-approaches-privacy)”. In , 2nd ed., 31:Pp. 687-780. Harvard Journal of Law & Technology K. Nissim, Bembenek, Wood, Bun, Gaboardi, U. Gasser, O’Brien, Steinke, and S. Vadhan. 2018. “[Bridging the Gap Between Computer Science and Legal Approaches to Privacy ](/publications/bridging-gap-between-computer-science-and-legal-approaches-privacy)”. In , 2nd ed., 31:Pp. 687-780. Harvard Journal of Law & Technology - add\_circle\_outline do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://jolt.law.harvard.edu/assets/articlePDFs/v31/02.-Article-Wood-7.21.pdf) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/02.-article-wood-7.21.pdf) The fields of law and computer science incorporate contrasting notions of the privacy risks associated with the analysis and release of statistical data about individuals and groups of individuals. Emerging concepts from the theoretical computer science... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://jolt.law.harvard.edu/assets/articlePDFs/v31/02.-Article-Wood-7.21.pdf) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/02.-article-wood-7.21.pdf) Vishesh Karwa and Salil Vadhan. 2018. “[Finite Sample Differentially Private Confidence Intervals](/publications/finite-%C2%ADsample-differentially-private-confidence-intervals)”. 9th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2018) Vishesh Karwa and Salil Vadhan. 2018. “[Finite Sample Differentially Private Confidence Intervals](/publications/finite-%C2%ADsample-differentially-private-confidence-intervals)”. 9th Innovations in Theoretical Computer Science Conference (ITCS 2018) - add\_circle\_outline do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.03908) - [ picture\_as\_pdfITCS Version](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/itcs_version.pdf) We study the problem of estimating finite sample confidence intervals of the mean of a normal population under the constraint of differential privacy. We consider both the known and unknown variance cases and construct differentially private algorithms to... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://arxiv.org/abs/1711.03908) - [ picture\_as\_pdfITCS Version](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/itcs_version.pdf) Micah Altman, Alexandra Wood, and Effy Vayena. 2018. “[A Harm-Reduction Framework for Algorithmic Accountability over Personal Information](/publications/harm-reduction-framework-algorithmic-accountability-over-personal)”. IEEE Security & Privacy , 16, 3, Pp. 34-45 Micah Altman, Alexandra Wood, and Effy Vayena. 2018. “[A Harm-Reduction Framework for Algorithmic Accountability over Personal Information](/publications/harm-reduction-framework-algorithmic-accountability-over-personal)”. IEEE Security & Privacy , 16, 3, Pp. 34-45 - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8395114/) - [ picture\_as\_pdfharm-reduction\_framework....](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/harm-reduction_framework.pdf) - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8395114/) - [ picture\_as\_pdfharm-reduction\_framework....](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/harm-reduction_framework.pdf) Micah Altman, Alexandra Wood, David O’Brien, and Urs Gasser. 2018. “[Practical Approaches to Big Data Privacy Over Time](/publications/practical-approaches-big-data-privacy-over-time-1)”. International Data Privacy Law, 8, 1, Pp. 29-51 Micah Altman, Alexandra Wood, David O’Brien, and Urs Gasser. 2018. “[Practical Approaches to Big Data Privacy Over Time](/publications/practical-approaches-big-data-privacy-over-time-1)”. International Data Privacy Law, 8, 1, Pp. 29-51 - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://academic.oup.com/idpl/advance-article/doi/10.1093/idpl/ipx027/4930711) - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://academic.oup.com/idpl/advance-article/doi/10.1093/idpl/ipx027/4930711) Jack Murtagh, Kathryn Taylor, George Kellaris, and Salil Vadhan. 2018. “[Usable Differential Privacy: A Case Study With PSI](/publications/usable-differential-privacy-case-study-psi-unpublished-paper-status)” Jack Murtagh, Kathryn Taylor, George Kellaris, and Salil Vadhan. 2018. “[Usable Differential Privacy: A Case Study With PSI](/publications/usable-differential-privacy-case-study-psi-unpublished-paper-status)” - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://arxiv.org/abs/1809.04103) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/usable_differential_privacy.pdf) - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://arxiv.org/abs/1809.04103) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/usable_differential_privacy.pdf) ### 2017 Mark Bun, Thomas Steinke, and Jonathan Ullman. 2017. “[Make Up Your Mind: The Price of Online Queries in Differential Privacy.](/publications/make-your-mind-price-online-queries-differential-privacy)”. Proceedings of the Twenty-Eighth Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA) Mark Bun, Thomas Steinke, and Jonathan Ullman. 2017. “[Make Up Your Mind: The Price of Online Queries in Differential Privacy.](/publications/make-your-mind-price-online-queries-differential-privacy)”. Proceedings of the Twenty-Eighth Annual ACM-SIAM Symposium on Discrete Algorithms (SODA) - add\_circle\_outline do\_not\_disturb\_on Abstract - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://arxiv.org/abs/1604.04618) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/make_up_your_mind.pdf) We consider the problem of answering queries about a sensitive dataset subject to differential privacy. The queries may be chosen adversarially from a larger set Q of allowable queries in one of three ways, which we list in order from easiest to hardest... - [ descriptionPublisher's Version](https://arxiv.org/abs/1604.04618) - [ picture\_as\_pdfPDF](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/make_up_your_mind.pdf) - Previous page chevron\_left - [1](?page=0%2C0 "Current page") - [2](?page=1%2C0 "Go to page 2") - [3](?page=2%2C0 "Go to page 3") - [ Next page chevron\_right ](?page=1%2C0 "Go to next page") [ More arrow\_circle\_right ](/publications) --- Attachments- [ picture\_as\_pdf Full Project Description (PDF format) ](/sites/g/files/omnuum6656/files/privacytools/files/projectdescription_1.pdf) ---