From 15–17 October 2025, statisticians, policymakers, and privacy researchers gathered in Barcelona, Spain, for the UNECE Expert Meeting on Statistical Data Confidentiality (https://unece.org/statistics/events/SDC2025 ). Across dedicated sessions, participants explored emerging confidentiality risks, innovative protection methods, and the growing demand for trustworthy data sharing in an increasingly open digital landscape.
Roman Müller gave a presentation on “Sharing Sensitive Psychological Data: Anonymization Techniques as a Prerequisite for Open Science.” Roman’s talk spotlighted a central dilemma in modern psychology: the push for open, transparent science versus the reality that psychological datasets often contain highly personal and sensitive information. While statistical disclosure control offers powerful tools to protect against unwanted disclosure, these methods are still underused in the field. Add in the complexity of longitudinal designs, nested structures, and multi-item scales, and anonymization becomes a challenging balancing act between privacy protection and scientific value. The presentation demonstrated why psychological data require special attention and showed how advanced anonymization techniques can open the door to secure, responsible data sharing without compromising participant confidentiality.