Applications are now open for the third round of funding from the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) grants programme.
The scheme, which began in 2017, supports privacy and data protection initiatives that have practical applications and will have a public benefit.
Previously funded projects culminated in outputs including a privacy tool that assists the public in upholding their data rights in the insurance and banking sectors as well as a toolkit for young people, parents, carers and educators that works to help keep children safe online.
Lynne Currie, Head of Innovation at the ICO, said:
“Innovation in data protection makes people’s lives better. These initiatives make improvements to our daily lives, whether it’s finding new ways to protect children or vulnerable individuals online, or creating ways to safeguard people’s data protection rights in relation to complex technology.
“The UK has a vibrant research community, and in this data driven world it’s important to us that we support privacy and data protection initiatives to address the issues of the day.”
Organisations are invited to bid for a grant to support independent research and projects. The ICO is seeking proposals that meet one or more of the six strategic goals set out in the ICO’s Information Rights Strategic Plan and provide a clear public benefit with outputs that are open source and re-usable. Examples of areas we are interested in include:
Data protection issues and solutions for vulnerable adults and communities.
Artificial intelligence, big data and machine learning. In particular, research that would support effective transparency or verifiable audit trails.
Data protection safeguards for the ethical use of emerging biometric and facial recognition technology in the private and public sectors.
Children’s’ data and privacy including solutions that support the ICO’s Age Appropriate Design Code.
Tools and techniques to minimise intrusion and reduce risk when sharing personal data.
Further information about the Grants Programme, including eligibility, funding and outcome expectations is available on the ICO’s new dedicated web portal. The portal also contains details and output from the completed and ongoing projects from previous rounds. It is hoped that data protection professionals and academics alike will utilise these outputs to continue to innovate across the privacy sphere.
The closing date for applications is 5pm on Tuesday 10 March 2020.