SmartData: The Return of Embodied Cognition: Developing Intelligent Agents | Seminar
40 St George St
Toronto, ON M5S 2E4
Canada
George J. Tomko, Ph.D.
Abstract: SmartData is the evolution of Privacy by Design – PbD 2.0, which moves control from the organization and places it directly in the hands of the data subject, where it belongs. Instead of having a one-to-many oversight mechanism wherein one organization is responsible for protecting the privacy of many individuals, the goal is to evolve a one-to-one oversight mechanism whereby an individual would be responsible for one set of personal data – one’s own data. In a world where personal information can increasingly be transmitted and used in multiple locations simultaneously, protecting privacy may only truly be accomplished if the information itself becomes ‘intelligent’ and capable of making appropriate decisions, relating to its release, on behalf of the data subject. In other words, the data must become “smart.” Accordingly, protecting privacy and security becomes a multi-domain task, where each domain must be seamlessly integrated into a functioning whole which we call SmartData. However, using deep learning techniques alone becomes problematic in terms of seamlessly integrating many domains, current and future, into a functioning whole that can also learn online.
Instead, the proposed methodology for SmartData is based upon embodied software agents within a virtual world, learning models of the world within a framework of evolutionary computation and dynamical systems. Embodied cognition is a growing field of research that emphasizes the formative role that both an agent’s “body” and the environment will play in the development of cognitive processes, primarily through the role of evolved primary actions. The general theory posits that these processes develop when tightly-coupled systems emerge from real-time, goal-directed interactions between agents and their environments, in our case, in a simulated virtual environment. The goal of SmartData is to surpass current limited and brittle data protection methods by being able to respond to unforeseen situations (exceptions to the rules), adapt to these novel circumstances, and provide an accurate, nuanced and contextual representation of an individual’s privacy and data security preferences.
Bio: Adjunct Professor in Computer Science at Ryerson University and Expert-in-Residence at IPSI (Privacy, Security and Identity Institute) at the University of Toronto. Dr. Tomko invented the privacy-enhancing technology “Biometric Encryption,” as well as “Anonymous Database,” both of which were the subject of patents. Later he invented “SmartData,” and is presently working on developing SmartData Intelligent Agents. Dr. Tomko holds over a dozen patents in the areas of optical computing and biometric encryption. He received his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Toronto as well as undergraduate degrees in Engineering Physics, Electrical Engineering and an Executive MBA. He was Vice-President and General Manager of Chubb Security, after which he co-founded two technology companies where he served as President and CEO, one of which he took public on the Toronto Stock Exchange. He also served as Chairman of Photonics Research Ontario, an Ontario Centre of Excellence. Dr. Tomko began his professional career as an officer in the Canadian Armed Forces (Navy branch) where he served on submarines and destroyers and also designed anti-missile electronic countermeasure systems.