Information Security and the "Privacy Broker"

Abstract

The term “privacy broker” describes a concept developed in 2004 to address important privacy issues in public health research. The privacy broker provides a combination of an information “firewall” between the research team and the study participants’ personal data, to protect the identity of study participants. It also provides a “masquerading” feature so that participants can be indirectly tracked or contacted, which allows for the collection of scientifically useful information over time.