On October 30, during the 2024 GDTC Global Data Technology Conference hosted by the Next Generation Internet Engineering Center, the "Privacy-enhancing Technology and Cross-border Data Flows Forum" was successfully held. It brought together data technology experts, industry leaders, and government representatives from around the world to explore the future development of data technology. Liu Dong, Director of the Next Generation Internet Engineering Center, stated at the forum that privacy-enhancing technology, including techniques, tools, and solutions, boosts personal data quality and usability, ensures data protection, and promotes data innovation. Its core goal is to balance privacy protection and data value release, serving as the cornerstone of a transparent, trustworthy, and secure data ecosystem.

Figure: Liu Dong, Director of the Next Generation Internet Engineering Center, speaking at the "Privacy-enhancing Technology and Cross-border Data Flows Forum"

Regarding the background of privacy-enhancing technology, Liu Dong noted that from the widespread use of mobile internet to the rapid development of artificial intelligence, data collection, use, sharing, flow, and even transactions are essential for innovation. However, this also raises higher requirements for privacy protection, data security, and trust. To address this, efforts should focus on avoiding and solving privacy leakage and protection issues through technological and engineering means across networks, data, AI models, products/services, and applications.

On the connotation and extension of privacy-enhancing technology, Director Liu Dong proposed that it encompasses techniques, tools, and solutions that improve personal data quality and usability, ensure data protection, and foster data innovation. Its primary goal is to balance privacy protection and data value release. Firstly, it enhances personal data quality and usability, improves data management, and maximizes data value release. Secondly, it strongly supports data protection, increases product/service transparency, and builds trust between users and enterprises. This includes privacy - enhancing technologies that reduce privacy risks and various privacy - management software that helps enterprises implement personal information protection requirements. Lastly, it addresses potential data protection risks in AI and machine learning, ensuring no algorithmic bias in data usage and preventing unfair treatment or negative impacts on individuals in technology applications.

In his conclusion, Director Liu Dong emphasized that privacy-enhancing technology is a comprehensive system covering multiple aspects, such as boosting data governance, protection, compliance management, and AI governance levels. Its core mission is to balance privacy protection and data - based innovation in our increasingly digital and intelligent world, unlocking the potential of data in the digital and AI eras.

As global digitization deepens and the AI era accelerates, the importance of privacy-enhancing technology becomes more prominent. It is crucial for maximizing data value and promoting technological innovation and serves as the cornerstone for building a transparent, trustworthy, and secure data ecosystem.