Reflections from Barcelona: Expert Meeting on Statistical Data Confidentiality 2025

From October 15–17, 2025, Barcelona hosted the UNECE Expert Meeting on Statistical Data Confidentiality, bringing together statisticians, policymakers, and privacy researchers. The gathering examined confidentiality challenges, protective methodologies, and the expanding need for secure data sharing in today’s digital environment.

Roman Müller presented research on “Sharing Sensitive Psychological Data: Anonymization Techniques as a Prerequisite for Open Science.” His discussion highlighted a key tension within psychology: the field’s movement toward openness conflicts with the sensitive nature of psychological information. Though statistical disclosure control methods exist, they remain underutilized in psychology. Longitudinal designs, hierarchical data structures, and complex measurement scales further complicate anonymization efforts. Müller’s work illustrated how advanced protection techniques enable responsible data distribution while maintaining participant privacy.