ICO selects first innovation Sandbox participants
The use of biometrics to speed up airport passenger journeys, innovations in crime prevention and technological advances in the health sector are among the first projects selected to take part in the ICO Sandbox business development programme.
The ICO Sandbox is a key initiative in delivering the organisation’s pledge to support business innovation and help ensure that developers of tech and digital services do not lose society’s trust
Other products and services to be tested for compliance with data protection laws in the programme’s beta phase will include innovations in housing, road traffic management, student welfare and tackling bias in artificial intelligence.
The ICO Sandbox is open to organisations that are developing innovative products and services using personal data with a clear public benefit.
Participants will be able to draw on the expertise and advice of the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on data protection by design and mitigating any risks as they test their innovations, while ensuring that appropriate protections and safeguards are in place.
Information commissioner Elizabeth Denham said the ICO supports innovation in technology and exciting new uses of data, while ensuring that people’s privacy and legal rights are protected. “We have always said that privacy and innovation are not mutually exclusive,” she said.
“The sandbox will help companies and public bodies to deliver new products and services of real benefit to the public, with assurance that they have tackled built-in data protection at the outset.”
Engaging with businesses and innovators in the sandbox is also a valuable exercise in horizon scanning, said Denham. “The ICO can identify new developments in technology and innovation and the potential opportunities and challenges they may provide,” she added.
A total of 10 projects have been selected from the 64 applications received by the ICO for the first phase of the sandbox.
The next stage will be to agree and develop detailed plans for each sandbox participant before work starts on testing their products and services. All 10 participants are expected to have completed the sandbox programme by September 2020.
The ICO Sandbox beta phase participants are: