Stanford Law Review Online Unveils Compelling New Papers in Advance of September 10 “Big Data and Privacy: Making Ends Meet” Conference Hosted by Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) and Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society (CIS)
For Immediate Release
Contact: Melissa Merz, 773.505.6037
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Stanford Law Review Online Unveils Compelling New Papers in Advance of September 10 “Big Data and Privacy: Making Ends Meet” Conference Hosted by Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) and Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society (CIS)
Ongoing NSA Revelations Bring Big Data and Privacy Issues to Forefront
The Stanford Law Review Online today published 11 new papers by privacy leaders in academia, government and business in a special symposium issue dedicated to the tension between big data innovation and privacy risks. Many of the papers will be presented in a forum titled Big Data and Privacy: Making Ends Meet, which will be hosted by Microsoft next Tuesday, September 10, in Washington, DC.
The forum constitutes one of the largest gatherings of privacy experts to take place since the recent revelations about the massive scope of NSA data collection and analysis. While Snowden’s leaks focused on data-driven government surveillance, big data tools are also used to propel innovation and growth in the private sector in areas ranging from public health and scientific research to energy conservation and sustainable development.
Although scheduled long in advance of the NSA story, the symposium raises issues at the heart of the current discussion such as balancing big data’s benefits against privacy costs. In their lead-off piece, FPF Executive Director Jules Polonetsky and FPF Senior Fellow and CIS Affiliate Scholar Omer Tene propose a first-of-its kind framework for assessing big data benefits against attendant privacy costs. The full paper – published today — can be read here. The calculation takes into account factors such as who benefits from big data; who bears the costs; and what is the probability of risks and rewards.
“Finding the right balance between privacy risks and big data rewards is one of the biggest public policy challenges of our time,” Polonestky and Tene said. “Unfortunately, the discussion progresses from crisis to crisis, focusing on legalistic formalities while the bigger policy choices remain blurred.”
Rayid Ghani, co-founder of Edgeflip, a startup building social media analytics products for non-profits and the former Chief Scientist for the Obama for America 2012 campaign, is scheduled to provide a keynote address. Jennifer Stoddart, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, will deliver closing notes.
The September 10 forum is scheduled from 9 a.m. ET to 5 p.m. ET in Washington, DC, at Microsoft’s Innovation and Policy Center, 901 K St., NW.
While new registrants are waitlisted due to overwhelming demand, interested media should contact Melissa Merz at 773.505.6037 or at [email protected]. Also, follow the conversation on Twitter at #bigprivacy.
If you are not able to attend the September 10 event and want to receive the conference papers as they are released, join the LinkedIn discussion here and follow FPF on Facebook or Twitter. Additionally, CIS can be followed on Facebook and Twitter.
