Research often requires using sensitive data to answer important questions. The ethical collection and analysis of personal information can be challenging to do while still protecting the privacy of the implicated individuals, honoring informed consent, and complying with other legal obligations. The technology, policies, and ethical considerations for researchers are constantly shifting, sometimes making it difficult to keep up. That’s why FPF engages stakeholders across academia and industry to produce recommendations, best practices, and ethical review structures that promote responsible research. Our work is centered around streamlining, encouraging, and promoting responsible research that respects essential privacy and ethical considerations throughout the research lifecycle. FPF works with policymakers to develop legislative protections that support effective, responsible research with strong privacy safeguards, including hosting events that allow policymakers and regulators to engage directly with practitioners from academia, advocacy, and industry.
Top Carnegie Mellon privacy researchers preview new work
On July 9th,2015, FPF will be hosting an in-person discussion with privacy researchers from Carnegie Mellon University to discuss some of their current privacy projects. Topics to be presented and discussed include: The Usable Privacy Policy Project: is developing approaches to extracting useful information from natural-language privacy policies and displaying that information in useful […]
Pew Tackles the Future of Privacy
On Wednesday, the Pew Research Center released its third report on Americans’ attitudes towards privacy and surveillance. While the report confirms previous findings that, no, privacy is not dead, it focuses a broader look at Americans’ views on privacy in public and information control. It finds that our privacy-values are particularly heightened with respect “to […]
FPF Senior Fellow Peter Swire Receives Privacy Leadership Award
The Future of Privacy Forum congratulates our Senior Fellow, Peter Swire, on receiving the 2015 Privacy Leadership Award from the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Peter has worked with FPF since 2010 on a wide range of privacy and cyber-security issues, such as encryption, Big Data, and many more. His current work with FPF includes […]
What Privacy Papers Should Policymakers Be Reading?
Each year, FPF invites privacy scholars and authors interested in privacy questions to submit articles and papers to be considered by members of our Advisory Board, with an aim toward showcasing those articles that should inform any conversation about privacy among policymakers in Congress, as well as at the Federal Trade Commission and in other […]
Moving the Internet of Things Forward Without Hard Numbers on Risks
Today’s release of the FTC’s long-awaited report on the Internet of Things concludes that connected devices are “likely to meld the virtual and physical worlds together in ways that are currently difficult to comprehend.” It’s this great unknown where it seems many of the revolutionary benefits and more abstract risks from connectivity lie. While the […]
A Practical Privacy Paradigm for Wearables
A Practical Privacy Paradigm for Wearables is available to read here. * * * * * * Only a week into 2015, and already it looks to be the year of wearable technologies. At this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show (CES), wearables and the Internet of Things have dominated the conversations and the exhibition halls. […]
Paper on Video Games and Privacy Released
At the start of the new year, one of the most anticipated video games of the year was Watch_Dogs, an open-world experience where players played the role of a hacker living in near-future Chicago, racing around the city using a mobile device to retrieve sensitive data and harnessing augmented reality feeds to pick up information about […]
Comments after the FTC Workshop on Big Data: Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion?
Today, FPF filed an additional set of comments in the wake of the FTC’s fall workshop, Big Data: A Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion? The comments focus on some of the challenges around defining what exactly “Big Data” is, and the increasing need to have a firmer ethical framework for having conversations about data use. […]
Facebook Moves Forward with an Ethics Review Panel
Jules and Omer opine in the Hill on today’s announcement from Facebook, commenting about the “essential accountability mechanism for companies that are struggling to balance the risks and opportunities of big data.” The Hill “Facebook’s announcement — establishing guidelines, review processes, training and enhanced transparency for research projects — marks another milestone in the emergence […]
CDT's "Always On" – the Digital Student
FPF attended the “Always On – Digital Student” forum hosted by the Center for Democracy & Technology and the Data Quality Campaign on September 24, 2014. The Digital Student Challenge Jon Phillips of Dell opened the session with a challenge that we need to change the learning process as well as change how we measure […]