The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) is offering millions of dollars in funding for innovative programs designed to protect user privacy online.
The NSTIC Privacy Pilots Cooperative Agreement grants, managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), are available to any U.S. organization (academic, non-profit or commercial) with a workable online privacy solution that has not seen widespread adoption.
Resource: NSTIC Privacy Pilot Federal Funding Opportunity
Awards are expected to range from $750,000 to $1.5 million per project per year for up to two years.
NIST announced funding for a fourth round of online identity pilots earlier this year, however this latest set of grants will specifically deal with privacy concerns.
Previous: NIST offering millions for online ID projects
“The identity solutions marketplace has particularly struggled with the privacy-enhancing guiding principle of the NSTIC,” according to the grant documents. “Market forces alone have not balanced these choices as, to date, mitigations have been weighted towards policy controls even though, in many cases, privacy-enhancing technologies or architectural design choices could be used to more effectively mitigate privacy or civil liberties risks.”
Funding will go to pilot programs that meet the NSTIC guiding principles and three base criteria:
- Offer innovative approaches to overcoming privacy barriers;
- Align with NSTIC principles while providing practical, market-ready solutions; and
- Balance policy and technical controls to mitigate specific privacy or civil liberties risks.
Applications must be submitted through grants.gov by May 28.
A two-hour informational webinar is also scheduled for April 15.
