The Federal Ministry of Research is funding the research and development of procedures for the anonymization of personal data in the coming years with 70 million euros.
That said Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger (FDP) of the German Press Agency.
A corresponding research network is to be supported with this sum at least until the end of 2025.
Individual or overarching research projects are funded.
Stark-Watzinger said it was about driving forward digitization and thus the use of data while at the same time ensuring better data protection.
"The aim is to develop technologies, processes and methods to make personal data anonymous and thus make them usable for data-based services and innovations in a legally compliant manner." Data protection does not inhibit innovation, but can be the driving force behind digitization.
The Ministry's funding guideline for the project states: "The tension between data use and data protection currently means that the potential of digitization and the applications, services and business models based on it are not yet being fully used in Germany."