Use Cases
At MDI, we partner with Statewide Longitudinal Data Systems to help them test and incorporate PETs into their existing infrastructure. Check out our PET pilot tests below, as well as additional real-world examples we’ve aggregated from other education organizations.
Washington D.C. Use Case
In collaboration with the D.C. Office of Education Through Employment Pathways (ETEP), MDI tested a privacy-preserving data linkage solution across jurisdictions. Using mock datasets and open-source tools, the pilot demonstrated how Secure Multiparty Computation (MPC) can help link education and workforce data across state lines—without exposing sensitive information.
Arkansas Use Case
Partnering with Arkansas’ Department of Transformation and Shared Services, MDI piloted a privacy-preserving record linkage (PPRL) tool within a statewide longitudinal data system. The pilot used open-source software to simulate education-to-workforce linkages while protecting individual privacy.
Nebraska Use Case
MDI worked with the Nebraska Statewide Workforce & Educational Reporting System (NSWERS) to help them test synthetic data on their high school and postsecondary outcome indicators. Leveraging open-source synthetization packages, NSWERS produced sample synthetic datasets that can reduce the need for real personally identifiable information (PII) in early-stage analysis and external collaborations, improving both data privacy and research accessibility.
Quick Improvements to Data Privacy Brief
This brief describes simple strategies to increase data privacy for leaders of smaller CBOs and government agencies. The goal is to spur conversation between leaders and their staff who work most closely with their data about which safeguards will help reduce key privacy risks while being feasible given their infrastructure and mission needs.
PETs in the World
Georgia Policy Labs
Georgia Policy Labs created an open-source secure hashing tool called SILK to convert sensitive information securely-hashed values, to enable linkages across government agencies without exposing sensitive information.
Explore SILKWashington’s Education Research & Data Center
Washington state’s Education Research & Data Center developed a virtual secure enclave—the Education Data Enclave (EDE)—to allow authorized researchers to access de-identified student data.
Read about the EDEThe College Scorecard
The College Scorecard is a collaboration between the U.S. Department of Education and the Internal Revenue Service that uses differential privacy to allow for the safe release of aggregate earnings information on U.S. colleges and universities.
Check out the Scorecard