If you’ve been meaning to read bit on differential privacy, you might want to read this article from the National Science Foundation:
… When planning a study, data scientists need to balance their desire to uncover new knowledge with the privacy of the people whom the data represent.
[…]
Salil Vadhan, a professor of computer science at Harvard University and former director of the Center of Research on Computation and Society, is among the researchers exploring an approach known as “differential privacy” that allows one to investigate data without revealing confidential information about participants. Initially introduced by Cynthia Dwork, Frank McSherry, Kobbi Nissim and Adam Smith, among others, in the mid-2000s, researchers continue to develop the concept today to apply it for real-world problems.
As the lead researcher for the National Science Foundation (NSF) supported “Privacy Tools for Sharing Research Data,” Vadhan and his team at Harvard are developing a new computer system that acts as a trusted curator — and identity protector — of sensitive, valuable, data. (The Sloan Foundation and Google, Inc. are providing the project with additional support.)
Read more on ScientificComputing.com