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Accelerate health data access for research with anonymization risk assessment tool

Summary

Profile Type
  • Technology offer
POD Reference
TOFR20250314014
Term of Validity
14 March 2025 - 14 March 2026
Company's Country
  • France
Type of partnership
  • Research and development cooperation agreement
  • Commercial agreement with technical assistance
Targeted Countries
  • All countries
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General information

Short Summary
A French SME specializing in data anonymization offers an innovative solution to accelerate health data access through anonymization risk assessment. This solution provides fast access to data, sometimes in less than an hour, compared to regulatory measures that can take up to 18 months. It is particularly beneficial for research purposes, such as clinical trials. The French company is seeking partners in the pharmaceutical and health sectors to enhance the tool with diverse use cases.
Full Description
A French company specializing in data anonymization offers solutions to accelerate data access for health research. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) mandates patient consent before using health data for research, which can take up to 18 months to comply with and sometimes cannot be met. To address this issue, anonymization can be used, as GDPR states that once data is anonymized, the regulation no longer applies. However, organizations must demonstrate through a reidentification risk assessment that individuals are protected. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) specifies three criteria for this assessment: singling out, linkability, and inference. Organizations must show that the reidentification risk is low based on these criteria.

Current market solutions provide anonymization without assessing reidentification risk, which requires specific expertise to consider EDPB criteria and adapt the assessment to each use case. The reidentification risk assessment is often left to the customer, putting them at risk in case of data violations or audits by regulatory authorities, with fines up to 4% of global sales or 20 million Euros.

The French company has developed a solution that addresses reidentification risk by assessing it based on EDPB criteria and generating a report for audit purposes. A patent is under review. The tool also anonymizes data to reduce identified risks. It is already used by health research organizations in France, and the company seeks partners to improve the tool with diverse use cases. Commercial and research and development agreements are sought.
Advantages and Innovations
Unlike other solutions, the French company's solution stands out by its ability to assess anonymization risk based on regulatory criteria set by the European Data Protection Board, such as linkability, singling out, and inference. It also proposes measures to mitigate high risks. The solution consists of two modules that can be used independently: evaluation and anonymization. The evaluation module identifies vulnerabilities within the dataset and calculates an inherent risk level. If the risk is high, it suggests counter-measures to reduce it to a target level. The anonymization module then applies these proposed counter-measures. Users have the option to use only the evaluation module and implement the measures themselves or use both modules together. After each evaluation, a report is generated, which can be used to demonstrate to regulators that the necessary measures have been taken to comply with regulations.
Stage of Development
  • Already on the market
Sustainable Development Goals
  • Goal 3: Good Health and Well-being
IPR status
  • IPR applied but not yet granted

Partner Sought

Expected Role of a Partner
The company is looking for partners to help in the development of the solution with different use cases. The partner could be:
- Pharmaceutical manufacturing companies
- Public health institutes performing research
- Other organization performing health research
Type and Size of Partner
  • R&D Institution
  • SME <=10
  • SME 11-49
  • University
Type of partnership
  • Research and development cooperation agreement
  • Commercial agreement with technical assistance

Dissemination

Technology keywords
  • 06005003 - Health information management
  • 06005001 - Safety & systems
Market keywords
  • 05005014 - Oncology
  • 05005010 - Cardiology
  • 05005021 - Medical computer sciences
  • 05005001 - Allergy research
  • 05005020 - Forensic Medicine
Sector Groups Involved
  • Health
Targeted countries
  • All countries