Data trust established in Jersey with bike sensor pilot

Digital Jersey, an independent organisation representing the island’s digital industries, has established a ‘data trust’, which it claims is one of the first of its kind.

The data trust is a legal structure that provides independent stewardship of data for an agreed purpose. The approach is based on that which has been applied to other types of assets before, such as financial and land.

To test the concept, data will be collected by cyclists in Jersey through See.Sense bike light sensors and held in the trust. The LifeCycle pilot also aims to generate useful data and intelligence around safe cycling. The trial is co-sponsored by the Jersey Office of the Information Commissioner (JOIC).

Digital Jersey will now look to recruit at least 200 cyclists to join the project.

‘Groundbreaking’

Dame Wendy Hall, Regius Professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton and Digital Jersey Non-Executive Director, said: “This is a groundbreaking project that brings together two of Jersey’s great strengths – digital innovation and its experience in trust administration.

“Data as a commodity is becoming more and more valuable, and organisations and governments are increasingly needing to find independent, robust ways to manage, store, protect and share their data effectively.

“This pilot will look at how holding data as an asset in a trust works in practice and explore how Jersey could play a leading role in responsible data stewardship.”

Trust role

The trust was established under Jersey Trust Law and the trustee is Lifecycle Trustee Limited, which is being managed by ICECAP Limited, a Jersey-based professional services firm. They will be supported by an advisory panel comprising technical experts in areas such as data ethics, data privacy, cybersecurity, Jersey laws and regulations, and a participant cyclist representative.

Once the cyclists have generated sufficient journey data, the trustees will ask data analysts to sift for anonymous insights. Organisations will be invited to submit requests to access the insights and the trustees will be responsible for vetting the applications.

Anyone requesting data will have to meet certain criteria. They must be a corporate entity and have an explicit mandate or public commitment to encourage or improve cycling in Jersey, and any access to data must be used for these purposes.

Paul Vane, Jersey’s Information Commissioner, commented: “As the AI and data revolution unfolds, there’s no doubt that global demand for third-party data stewardship services will grow. The security of complex, personal – often sensitive – data, however, is critical. In theory, Jersey’s tried-and-tested trust law may be a good fit for holding data in this context, and this pilot will be instrumental in testing how such an innovative approach to data stewardship could work in a real-world environment, whilst respecting the protections afforded to individuals under data protection legislation.”

Data trusts and cities

The data trust concept has also been explored in the city context, including through a pilot in London.

In Canada, non-profit Innovate Cities offers the City Shield data trust, which it describes as “a technological platform that allows collectors of data to share their data with one another, while delegating the responsibilities and obligations of management to a trusted third-party entity – in this case, Innovate Cities.”

During an interview at Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona in November, Hugh O’Reilly, Executive Director at Innovate Cities, told Cities Today: “When we think about data, everybody talks about data sharing, there’s all the bromides about data being the new oil, etc., but the reality is, in order to share data, you have to earn the trust of the communities, the people who live, work and play there.

“So we decided to focus on governance issues at the same time as we’re focusing on technology.”

He added that Canadian privacy laws aren’t as strong as European laws but Innovate Cities’ work will be compliant with GDPR.

Dr Ann Cavoukian, who was Ontario’s Information and Privacy Commissioner for 17 years and developed the privacy by design concept, is the Chief Privacy Officer at Innovate Cities. An advisory board also provides oversight.