Data may also be used for purposes that threaten Finland

Promoting access to data gathered at public expense is an established aim in Europe, with the potential for misusing data viewed as a secondary risk or acceptable price for allowing anyone to use data in order to make nifty applications that facilitate everyday life.

The tradition of open access to data has been a cornerstone of academic research. This policy has undoubtedly served both pure and applied research very successfully.

In an evolving security context, it is nevertheless increasingly necessary to consider that data can also be used for purposes that could seriously jeopardise the security of Finland or its people.

Growth in computing capacity and advances in artificial intelligence algorithms are giving authoritarian states a major boost in their ability to exploit and combine seemingly innocuous datapools.

The need to protect communications from device manufacturer risks is already understood in Finland. We have also already responded in concrete terms to the open availability of critical infrastructure location data. We are increasingly having to reassess the sharing of other information in the light of threats that its use may pose. This is specifically a matter of risk assessment. A great deal of information may still be accessed openly without risk.

Biodata can be used to cure diseases, but also to create them

One example of open data policy concerns biodata, meaning health and genetic information. Finland operates comprehensive, well-organised registries of health data that have been fairly open to use for purposes of research, and as this is often conducted in international academic and commercial partnerships, data sharing has become commonplace.

While sharing of biodata has boosted efficiency in advancing medical science, it also enables potential misuse of that data. The risk of such misuse has greatly increased in the current geopolitical situation.

Even as China currently gathers biodata from various countries, for example, it is not sharing its own. Russia also has a long tradition in military medicine.

The most serious scenarios could see biodata misused to develop pathogens and to assess their propagation through a specific target group. By making biodata available, Finland may inadvertently assist in developing such applications. The combination of artificial intelligence and bioinformatics will boost all research, for better or worse.