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The ‘VisiOn: Visual Privacy Management in User Centric Open Environments’ project will provide visual ways to support people in deciding about their data and will issue warnings about ‘bad decisions’ or breaches with respect to their privacy.

Funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme, the project will provide a visual privacy management platform that will enable citizens and public administrations to understand and visualise their privacy needs and to identify any warnings or conflicts with regard to different privacy needs, as well as among privacy needs and privacy laws in place.

The university’s Secure and Dependable Software Systems (SenSe) research cluster, carrying out the research, will be part of a consortium comprising ten other organisations, in Italy, Greece, Spain, Germany and Bulgaria. The university will receive €392,000 to research and develop a critical component of the platform which will define privacy requirements and their visualisation.

Professor Haris Mouratids

VisiOn will involve pilot projects focusing on online services provided by municipalities and by public healthcare providers, in particular hospitals. Both involve the handling of mass sensitive data and large data sharing of citizen and patient data.

Haris Mouratidis, Professor of Software Systems Engineering and director of the SenSe cluster at the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics, said: “This is an exciting project focusing on an issue that is important for all of us, that of privacy of our personal information.

“We all enjoy the benefits of modern technology such as easy exchange and 24/7 access of information. However, most of the time we use services, we have no understanding of how our personal data is used, shared and controlled. This is the case when using private services including social media or public administration (PA) services such as self-assessment tax returns.

“VisiOn will focus on PA scenarios and it will enable a clear and visual way that empowers citizens and supports them in deciding about their data and they will receive warnings about bad decisions or breaches with respect to their privacy. This approach will facilitate and support an informed choice regarding sharing of data, based on the combination of privacy needs, threats, trust, and personal data’s economic value.”