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By Kaitlin Barnes

What began in 2014 as a small, seed-funded research project to assess pay equity in Boston, multi-party computation (MPC) has emerged as a key research thrust of the Hariri Institute for Computing and is drawing significant attention from U.S. policymakers. Just this past month, Senators Wyden (D-Ore.), Rubio (R-Fla.), and Warner (D-Va.) re-introduced the “Student Right to Know Before You Go Act” with updated language that would require MPC to be used in calculations involving sensitive student data.

Institute Director Azer Bestavros is quoted in the bill’s press release, noting:

“We are excited to see legislation promoting the use of multi-party computation (MPC) in formulating sound public policy. Boston University’s successful collaboration with the City of Boston and the Boston Women’s Workforce Council brought this technology into practice to maintain data privacy while gaining insight into an important societal issue — potential wage inequality in private industry. Such applications demonstrate that MPC can bring enormous value to policymakers at all levels of government.” (Azer Bestavros, Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor of Computer Science and Founding Director, Hariri Institute for Computing)

Additionally, Speaker Ryan (R-Wis.) and Senator Murray (D-Wash.) introduced “Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2017” legislation in both the House and Senate to implement recommendations from the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking. Bestavros had the opportunity to meet with Speaker Ryan’s office to discuss how MPC can contribute to this legislation, which creates an Advisory Committee on Data for Evidence Building designed to “review, analyze, and make recommendations on how to expand access to and use of Federal data for evidence building” and include “nongovernmental stakeholders with expertise in government data policy, privacy, technology, transparency policy, evaluation and research methodologies, and other relevant subjects.” Bestavros also met with representatives from the Bipartisan Policy Center, a nonprofit that has been continuing the work of the Commission on Evidence-Based Policymaking and developing implementation strategies for the bill’s provisions.

In addition to facilitating Bestavros’ meetings, the University’s Federal Relations team, led by Jennifer Grodsky and Emily Bulij, continues to open new doors in Washington, D.C. in an effort to connect researchers to lawmakers and federal agencies. Institute fellows Andrei Lapets, Director of Research Development, and Mayank Varia, Co-Director for the Center for Reliable Information Systems & Cyber Security, met with senior personnel from the U.S. Census Bureau to explore how MPC can potentially address challenges in disclosure avoidance and data integration. Earlier in the year, Lapets and Varia also discussed MPC with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the agency within the U.S. Department of Defense responsible for the development of emerging technologies for use by the military.

MPC presents a paradigm shift in how data-driven innovation can be achieved while preserving the security, privacy, and confidentiality of data assets. With applications in policymaking, business intelligence, medicine, cybersecurity, and more, this technology has the capacity to fundamentally change how we share and leverage data.

Since 2014, Institute researchers have expanded the scope of MPC through the development of an MPC platform and implementation of a web-based version of the application. As one of the few research groups pushing the envelope along these lines, and as the only group that has a real-world deployment example (and several ready-to-deploy platforms), the Institute has had several unique opportunities to meet with key policymakers and discuss the capabilities offered by MPC.

As data continues to become a top asset for academia, government and industry alike, the need for privacy-protecting data analytics is a top priority for all. With its ongoing MPC research and application across disciplines, BU is well-positioned to contribute to the ongoing discussion of strategy and implementation.

Notable Media Mentions:
POLITICO
SCRIBD
Spartan Echo
Senator Wyden’s Office Press Release

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