Privacy Talk with Christopher Gorog, CEO BlockFrame Inc and Chair IEEE Digital Privacy Initiative : What is your plan to start new things at IEEE Digital Privacy?
“This interview recorded on 20th April 2023 is talking about privacy and blockchain.”
Kohei is having great time discussing privacy and blockchain.
This interview outline:
- What does it need for “A Synergistic Approach to Digital Privacy”?
- What is your plan to start new things at IEEE Digital Privacy?
- Message to listeners
- What does it need for “A Synergistic Approach to Digital Privacy”?
Chris: you know, I think one of the things that document was kind of early on that we really achieved with that is saying, we’re a technologist group, the IEEE. We have lots of technological solutions. We have lots of people that want to know how to apply them and what to apply them for the greater good.
And that’s one of the mottos with IEEE, you know, to the greater good of the human race with technology, you know, applying it. And so identifying some of the areas that the initiative would focus on. A big one was technology, hey, here’s all this list of technologies that our members are saying, I want to apply this, I want to use this.
And they all have ideas about how they can be used. Now let’s get together and say, where are they used? Who’s going to use them? How are they going to be used?
How can we integrate that with existing works out there, privacy by design?
And make sure that we align with the common regulatory bodies, in their terminology I will say, you know, we don’t want to reinvent the wheel. The first big part was identifying the pieces. But it had to start with, you know, what are we interested in? We’re interested in technology.
And that’s what you said about some of those technologies listed in there, but also that we’re interested in the governance of it, the control of it, and saying how do we establish that in a neutral manner?
So that really rang through in that initial paper, that we want to be the neutral kind of words and not take a side. That’s where you know, my last talk about the geographical change, you know, changes to policy and to idealism came in and once we started getting all the pieces together from across the world and all the people with those different voices came in.
And that’s what we’ve been addressing for the whole kind of second year is listening to all the voices and saying, how do we make a model now of how all these voices that come in impact privacy as a practice and pulling those together.
And you know, at some point in the future, we might turn that around and say, okay, here’s what we’ve put together. Now, let’s push that back out to standards and support either IEEE Standards Association, which we already are in talks with.
We have a standard working group. But at this point, we’re kind of just cataloging what’s out there to be maybe the master index of technology, privacy, standards organizations. Here’s a one stop shop for everything. And that’s really I think, where, where that initial publication was leading us and why it exists.
Kohei: That sounds very good. Since a lot of voices should be inclusive in the processes to create a more practical initiatives. In this sense, in its second year of the IEEE Digital Privacy Initiative, do you have any practice and the planning in this year, because a lot of the people is interested in this space, then how we can be involved in this new actions together?
- What is your plan to start new things at IEEE Digital Privacy?
Chris: Yeah, for sure. I mean, the different working groups I talked about when you asked me I think in that first question, yes, we’d love to have people join the working groups that are interested in any of those or the industry verticals.
We have the three of them like I said, but join and listen to a couple of them, sample in a couple places. If you’d like to talk to some of the leadership and we’ll help you see based on your skill set where you might fit in. We’re happy to have one-on-ones with new people as they come in.
We usually actually like to do that. Sin-Kuen Hawkins is my program manager with Future Directions, she’s the full time staff and does a great job in coordinating the efforts. And I kind of volunteer. I try to be engaged where necessary, but you know, I have a full time job and that’s what pays the bills.
The IEEE is just, you know, my passion coming out. How can we impact or give something to the world that doesn’t exist? We have all this great technology, we have all these great minds. Now let’s put it together and that’s really where I feel that we’re going to benefit from and we’d love to have your particular expertise, whatever that is and align it to different areas.
We don’t even mind starting something else and having different sub focuses. We have people doing technical writing, and even event planning. We have had an event the first year as a small project. Last year we attended events for other people all over the world.
And we’re looking at putting together an event late this year and then having a kind of an inaugural conference in the third year of the initiative for digital privacy. And we’ve had great participation and check out our website that https://digitalprivacy.ieee.org/ there’s lots of great content on there.
Lots of people from the group speak about their different areas of expertise and their involvement, and what they’re taken from and even what their passion is and how you can listen and how you might align with that. We have some great people already involved.
So looking for more of that support, and to even bring a different perspective. Especially, you know, how can we get the word out in Japan and Asia and talk to some of the people outside of you know the United States, European focus that we’ve been in a little bit over the last two years.
Kohei: That’s a great notice that I think it’s a good phrase to work together with diversification with the backgrounds and the experiences, it involves them together that’s getting an initiative to make a standardized approach in the industry our proposal.
So finally, I’d like to ask you about the message to the listeners. Since you have many interesting experiences to establish the new initiative because the blockchain is a very promising technology, however a lot of people are not talking about blockchain and privacy.
But you are learning of this movement at this moment. So could you share your insight from experiences that your expectations to the listeners the audiences from this point?
- Message to listeners
Chris: I think blockchain and privacy is kind of a potential promise and it basically is, like I discussed earlier the locking in of distributed trust. If we can distribute trust between data items, then we can arrange those data items so they’re either public or private, and verify that the trust is maintained.
And that’s really the promise the blockchain can give us. We can’t say that it’s the one stop shop and it solves everything but it adds an extra tool.
For you know, for years, we’ve had cryptography for hundreds of years, literally, you know, in ancient Rome, they did an offset in alphabet characters known as the Caesar Cipher. And the concept has been around for a while, but it wasn’t until the early 70s that we got asymmetric cryptography.
And it isn’t until you know, the late 2000s, that we got distributed trust that’s operational and blockchain and it adds that layer of tools on that we can use and you know, like I said, it’s not the one stop shop, but it’s the promise of connecting all the pieces that we know how to do and already, you know, all the technologies with a distributed I trust those individual making operations.
And that’s really the promise. That privacy just becomes the application of using that tool. Whether you decide but you know, we also have to make sure it’s used for good because as you know, we can see in any technology, you know, the voice of technology, usually considered to be morally agnostic.
People can use it for good and bad. How can we enable and empower this distributed trust for a positive purpose and that’s really what my passion is. I’m not going to take this technology to try and exploit it to have millions of dollars in cryptocurrency and market fluctuations and trading it in and out. I’m looking at how we can apply it to security and making our future better with distributed trust.
Kohei: Thank you for sharing that insight. I think that your experience then also your insight is very grateful for the security person as well. Again, there are great opportunities in IEEE Digital Privacy then having more people on board and making a more great discussion with you together.
So again, thank you for having the conversation Chris. I’m very pleased to have a talk with you at this moment.
Chris: Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.
Thank you for reading and please contact me if you want to join interview together.
Privacy Talk is the global community with diversified expert, and contact me below Linkedin if we can work together!
