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.
Chris Wolf Does a "Soap Box" Presentation on Big Data
Tomorrow, Berkeley will host a workshop on Big Data: Values and Governance, the third in the White House’s public events around big data and privacy. As part of this discussion, Chris Wolf presented a “soap box” presentation on big data today. He suggested a few high-level recommendations, including the need to “fully take stock of the […]
Jules, Omer and Chris Discuss the Challenges of Big Data and Consumer Review Boards
FPF’s Co-Chair and Executive Director Jules Polonetsky, Senior Fellow Omer Tene, and Co-Chair Christopher Wolf discussed the challenges facing President Obama with respect to big data in a new post for the IAPP. The post argues that balancing the benefits of data analytics against attendant risks to civil liberties presents the biggest public policy challenge […]
Essays on Big Data and Privacy
A collection of essays by leading scholars and privacy advocates on the legal, technological, social, and policy implications of Big Data, emerging out of our 2013 Big Data and Privacy…
Study Suggests Broad-Based Consumer Concerns about Privacy
An October study published by McGraw Hill Financial Global Institute cautions that consumers believe they are losing control of their online privacy. The report from authors at J.D. Power suggests that a majority of consumers feel they have lost control over how their personal information is collected and used, suggesting a lack of consumer trust […]
A New Privacy Paradigm for the “Internet of Things”
Today the FTC is hosting a workshop on the Internet of Things, which will feature many great panelists including FPF’s Co-Chairman Christopher Wolf. Chris and FPF Executive Director Jules Polonetsky have also today released a whitepaper arguing for a new privacy paradigm in the new highly connected world. The whitepaper argues that current implementations of […]
Commissioner Brill and the Broader Privacy Call to Arms
Wednesday, in a speech at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University, FTC Commissioner Julie Brill addressed an audience of engineers and computer scientists and solicited their skills to improve consumer privacy and enhance trust. Her specific concerns have tracked some of the biggest debates I have seen during my time at the Future of […]
Sharing Thoughts on Big Data and Privacy
We wanted to draw your attention to several excellent pieces discussing and summarizing last Tuesday’s “Big Data and Privacy: Making Ends Meet” workshop: Jedidiah Bracy covered the event for the IAPP’s Privacy Perspectives blog. He highlights a number of the day’s discussions, and concludes that “the ethics of Big Data and technology will be discussed […]
Campaigns, the Internet, and Big Data
In this morning’s Politico, Emile Schultheis explores how German politicians are trying to emulate the Obama’s campaign data and digital operation in advance of the country’s September 22 federal election. “The Internet has come into the center of the campaign,” Robert Heinrich, Green Party campaign manager, is quoted as saying. He notes, however, that campaigns […]
FPFcast: Talking Consumer Subject Review Boards with Ryan Calo
[audio http://fpf.org/wp-content/uploads/FPFCast.Calo_.mp3] In advance of the Future of Privacy Forum and the Stanford Center for Internet & Society’s event on “Big Data and Privacy” next month, we spoke with Professor Ryan Calo about his essay Consumer Subject Review Boards — A Thought Experiment. Professor Calo looks at how institutional review boards (IRBs) were put in place to […]
Privacy and Big Data: The Biggest Public Policy Challenge of Our Time?
On the IAPP blog, Omer Tene writes,”If privacy regulators were the sole decision-makers determining the relative importance of values that sometimes conflict with privacy they would become the de facto regulators of all things commerce, research, security and speech.” Read the post for the point-counterpoint between Professor Paul Ohm, Omer Tene and Jules Polonetsky.