Connected technologies and always-on data flows are helping make today’s cities and communities more livable, productive, and sustainable. At the same time, these technologies raise concerns about individual privacy, freedom of choice, and institutional discrimination. How do we leverage the benefits of a data-rich society while giving members of our community the confidence of knowing their privacy is protected? How can we address pressing local problems — from housing to highways, potholes to policing — and deliver public services in equitable, privacy-conscious ways?
Working collaboratively with public, private, academic, and civil society leaders, FPF builds tools and best practices to guide how cities and local communities collect, manage, and use personal data to improve services for individuals. A cornerstone of this work is FPF’s Civic Privacy Leaders Network, a peer network supported by the National Science Foundation that brings together privacy leaders from 30+ local governments across the U.S. and Canada to navigate emerging privacy issues, share practical guidance, and promote fair and transparent data practices.
Visit the Smart Communities Resources web page for a comprehensive list of FPF’s ongoing work in this area.
FPF at CPDP 2022: Panels and Side Events
As the annual Computers, Privacy and Data Protection (CPDP) conference took place in Brussels between May 23 and 25, several Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) staff took part in different panels and events organized by FPF or other organizations before and during the conference. In this blogpost, we provide an overview of such events, with […]
Privacy Impact Assessment Policies Help Cities Use and Share Data Responsibly with their Communities
As the world urbanizes, local governments are turning to “Smart City” initiatives and the data they generate to more effectively manage transportation systems, support real-time infrastructure maintenance, automatically administer public services, enable transparent governance and open data, and support emergency services in public areas. Data held by public and private organizations have the potential to […]
FPF & Dataskydd.net Webinar – Privacy in High Density Crowd Contexts
Authors: Hunter Dorwart and Rob van Eijk On 30 September 2020, Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) and Dataskydd.net jointly organized the webinar ‘Privacy in High Density Crowd Contexts’. A key aspect of the webinar was the role of industry-driven privacy standards in the development and deployment of privacy-friendly technologies for crowd management, mobile connectivity, and […]
Five Top of Mind Data Protection Recommendations for Brain-Computer Interfaces
By Jeremy Greenberg, [email protected] and Katelyn Ringrose [email protected]. Key FPF-curated background resources – policy & regulatory documents, academic papers, and technical analyses regarding brain-computer interfaces are available here. Recently, Elon Musk livestreamed an update for Neuralink—his startup centered around creating brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). BCIs are an umbrella term for devices that detect, amplify, and translate […]
Privacy in Higher Education: A Conversation with Sara Collins
Innovation in higher education is increasingly fueled by data. From financial aid applications, to online classes, to student success initiatives, college students provide an extraordinary amount of data to schools, companies, and the government. This data provides unprecedented insights into student behavior, and colleges are using it to shape curricula, processes, and services to meet […]
July 20th Event: Kids & The Connected Home
The debate over the relationship between children and technology has been heated and complex. Issues ranging from the right amount of screen time, online privacy, safety and security have occupied policymakers, parents, and advocates for quite some time.
Jules Polonetsky to Discuss the State of the World on Data Privacy
Tomorrow at 2 PM ET, Jules Polonetsky will be joining Christina Peters, IBM’s Chief Privacy Officer, for a live videochat to discuss data privacy. Specifically, the two will address challenges managing cross-border data issues as different countries pursue different approaches and regulations for emerging technologies, mobile, and the Internet of Things. The conversation will be […]
Smart Grid Interview with Legal Broadcast news
Jules Polonetsky Smart Grid Interview w LBN Host Scott Drake