A Sociotechnical Approach to Genomic Data Privacy: A Comparative Analysis

Area of Science:

• Genomics
• Privacy Law
• Computer Science

Background:

• International genomic data sharing faces significant privacy law hurdles.
• Existing privacy regulations differ between jurisdictions like the EU and US.
• Secure computing environments on smartphones offer a way to process sensitive data without direct sharing.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a novel technology for processing genomic data within a secure smartphone environment.
• To assess the compatibility of this technology with existing EU and US privacy laws.
• To explore technological solutions for privacy law fragmentation in cross-jurisdictional data sharing.

Main Methods:

• Development of a novel technology for secure genomic data processing on smartphones.
• Analysis of the technology's compliance with EU and US privacy legal frameworks.
• Evaluation of data subject trust and control mechanisms within the technology.

Main Results:

• The described technology for processing genomic data in a secured computing environment appears to comply with both EU and US privacy laws.
• The technology facilitates secure storage and processing of sensitive genomic data without sharing the raw data.
• Successful alignment with differing privacy aims and rules across jurisdictions was demonstrated.

Conclusions:

• Technological solutions may bridge gaps caused by fragmented privacy laws across different jurisdictions.
• The developed technology offers a potential pathway for compliant international genomic data processing.
• Data subject trust and control are crucial factors for the social acceptance and implementation of such technologies.