United States of America: National Institute of Standards and Technology adopted guidelines for evaluating differential privacy guarantees (NIST SP 800-226)

On 6 March 2025, the National Institute of Standards and Technology adopted the guidelines for evaluating differential privacy guarantees. It seeks to assist organisations across government, industry, academia, and civil society assess privacy risks in data analytics. The guidelines describe differential privacy as a privacy-enhancing technology that quantifies privacy loss, introducing a differential privacy pyramid to highlight key considerations and potential hazards. They outline differentially private algorithms, the trade-offs between privacy and utility, and implementation challenges, emphasising the need for secure data handling to prevent breaches that could undermine privacy guarantees. The guideline also explores the potential for standardisation, certification, and evaluation frameworks to ensure robust, real-world privacy protections, serving as a foundation for future efforts in responsible data analytics.