Oct 1, 2012 – The Future of Privacy Forum and TRUSTe Launch a Smart Grid Privacy Seal Program
The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF), the Washington based think tank committed to advancing responsible data practices, today announced a first of its kind privacy seal program for companies that use consumer energy information. The seal will be powered by TRUSTe, the leading data privacy management company with over 5,000 customers. The seal will be available to companies offering home energy management, remote home control or security, smart thermostats and other services that seek to access consumer energy data.
See: http://fpf.org/issues/smart-grid/
First Meeting Planned for Multistakeholder Process on Smart Grid Data Privacy
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) held a Smart Grid Privacy Workshop on January 31, 2012. This was followed by the White House privacy blueprint, “
Consumer Data Privacy in a Networked World,” released on February 23, 2012. As a reaction to both events, the Federal Smart Grid Task Force will “
facilitate a multistakeholder process to develop a Voluntary Code of Conduct (VCC) for utility and third parties providing consumer energy use services.”
Those that are interested in joining this multi-stakeholder process can attend the first meeting on or about December 6, 2012, in Washington, D.C. This initial meeting will focus on developing a timeline and identifying the main elements of the Voluntary Code of Conduct (VCC).
Those that are interested in attending in person or remotely have been asked to visit the
smartgrid.gov website to indicate how they would like to participate.
Mary Culnan
Dr. Mary J. Culnan is Professor Emeritus at Bentley University. She also serves as a Senior Research Fellow in the Center for IT and the Global Economy (CITGE) at the Kogod School of
Business, American University.
Mary has testified before Congress, the Massachusetts Senate, and other government agencies
on a range of privacy issues. In 1993, she served on a White House Task Force on Presidential
Correspondence. From 1997-98, she served as a Commissioner on the President’s Commission
on Critical Infrastructure Protection. In 2000 she was a member of the FTC’s Advisory
Committee on Access and Security. Since 2001, Mary has been a member of the Government
Accountability Office’s Executive Committee on Information Management and Technology
(ECIMT). Business Week’s e-biz Web site profiled Mary as a “Mover & Shaker” in 1999
Mary’s primary research interest is governance of privacy and security; her paper on public
policy approaches to promoting accountability for privacy was one of six papers selected for
inclusion in FPF’s 2011 Privacy Papers for Policy Makers.. She has also conducted research
on how organizations can gain value from social media. Mary’s work has been published in a
range of academic journals as well as the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall
Street Journal. She is the author of the 1999 Georgetown Internet Privacy Policy Survey, which
the Federal Trade Commission used to make recommendations to Congress, and the 2006
Bentley-Watchfire Survey of Online Privacy Practices in Higher Education. She also co-authored
FPF’s 2010 “icon” research report related to online behavioral advertising. Details about her
publications is available here.
Mary was employed for seven years as a systems analyst by the Burroughs Corporation prior to
earning her Ph.D. in management from UCLA. Before joining the faculty at Bentley in fall 2000,
she held faculty positions at the University of Virginia, University of California, Berkeley, the
American University and Georgetown University.
Big Data for All
See FPF Senior Fellow Omer Tene’s concurring opinions post announcing the release of Big Data for All: Privacy and User Control in the Age of Analytics. The paper, co-authored by Tene and FPF Director Jules Polonetsky discusses the value of helping individuals play an active role in the data economy through the “featurization” or “app-ification” of data.
Mobile App Ecosystem Webinar – Sept. 13th at 4pm EST
The Future of Privacy Forum & World Privacy Forum’s briefing on the Mobile App Ecosystem will be held on September 13th at 4PM EST. This briefing is intended to further the NTIA-convened multistakeholder efforts to create a code of conduct for mobile application transparency. Details for the event can be found here.
A Brief Future of Privacy Forum Survey of Mobile Application Best Practices
The Future of Privacy Forum staff put together this survey of app best practices documents to contribute to the upcoming NTIA discussions: A Brief FPF Survey of Mobile Application Best Practices
The August 22, 2012 multistakeholder meeting will be the second in a series of NTIA-convened discussions concerning mobile application transparency.
For more details about the upcoming meeting visit the NTIA website.
NTIA Multistakeholder Meetings
The schedule for the next seven NTIA Multistakeholder Meetings to develop a consumer data privacy code of conduct concerning mobile application transparency was recently posted to the Federal Register (pdf). The meetings will be held in the Auditorium of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Herbert C. Hoover Building, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC. Any updates to the upcoming schedule will posted here on the NTIA site.
Upcoming Meetings Schedule
- Meeting 2 – August 22, 2012 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
- Meeting 3 – August 29, 2012 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time
- Meeting 4 – September 19, 2012 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Eastern Time
- Meeting 5 – October 10, 2012 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Eastern Time
- Meeting 6 – November 7, 2012 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Eastern Time
- Meeting 7 – November 30, 2012 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Eastern Time
- Meeting 8 – December 18, 2012 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Eastern Time
August 9, 2012 – Peter Swire Discusses the Importance of Cybersecurity Legislation at Homeland Security Hearing, TAP
Professor Peter Swire, Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University, testified at last week’s Senate Homeland Security hearing on the state of federal privacy and data security laws.
August 2, 2012 – FTC proposes an update to ancient online law, COPPA, Marketplace Tech
April of 2000. Everybody loved “Everybody Loves Raymond.” Movie fans flocked to “U-571,” which I don’t remember at all. And Sisqo topped the charts. That month also saw enactment of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA.
Senior Fellow Peter Swire Testifies at Senate Hearing
FPF Senior Fellow Peter Swire testified as part of today’s Senate Hearing on the “State of Federal Privacy and Data Security Law: Lagging Behind the Time.” The Hearing, held by the Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management; the Federal Workforce; and the District of Columbia, aimed to address the privacy-related challenges facing federal agencies today.
Professor Swire’s testimony focused on four key proposals to help the government address various privacy concerns:
- The Senate Should Promptly Confirm the Five Nominees for the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board.
- Congress should create a federal Chief Privacy Officer by statute, to improve coordination of privacy policy across federal agencies.
- There is an important loophole in the Privacy Act, but the problem can best be addressed by changes to the E-Government Act.
- The oversight process should focus more attention on the line between identified and de-identified data in federal agencies.
- Professor Swire is working with the Future of Privacy Forum this year on identifying good practices for de-identification in the online setting
Professor Swire’s full testimony is available here.
Peter Swire is the C. William O’Neill Professor of Law at the Moritz College of Law of the Ohio State University. In 1999, he was named Chief Counselor for Privacy, in the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. In that role, he was the first (and thus far the only) person to have government-wide responsibility for privacy policy. As Chief Counselor for Privacy, he worked extensively with the Privacy Act of 1974, helped institutionalize the practice of Privacy Impact Assessments for federal systems, and addressed many other privacy and cybersecurity issues affecting federal agencies. Since then, Professor Swire has continued to write and speak extensively on privacy and security issues.
