Do Beacons Track You? No, You Track Beacons
BuzzFeed News today reports that phone booths in NYC are tracking people and can send them ads. Let’s explain this rapidly spreading new technology we often see described inaccurately. First, let’s step back and understand how your phone or apps on your phone that you grant permission to access your location are able to […]
FTC Wants Tools to Increase Transparency and Trust in Big Data
However we want to define “Big Data” – and the FTC’s latest workshop on the subject suggests a consensus definition remains elusive – the path forward seems to call for more transparency and the establishment of firmer frameworks on the use of data. As Chairwoman Ramirez suggested in her opening remarks, Big Data calls for […]
iOS 8 and Privacy: Major New Privacy Features
iOS 8 includes several new privacy features founded on Apple’s core privacy principles of consent, choice and transparency. With these principles in mind, Apple created and incorporated increasingly granular controls for location, opportunities for developers to communicate to users how and why they use data, and limits on how third parties can track your device. […]
Lessons from Fair Lending Law for Fair Marketing and Big Data
Lessons from Fair Lending Law for Fair Marketing and Big Data Where discrimination presents a real threat, big data need not necessary lead us to a new frontier. Existing laws, including the Equal Credit Opportunity Act and other fair lending laws, provide a number of protections that are relevant when big data is used for […]
Synopsis: Education Privacy Hearing—How Data Mining Threatens Student Privacy
Yesterday, the House of Representatives Education Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education and the Homeland Security’s Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies held a joint hearing to discuss “How Data Mining Threatens Student Privacy.” Four witnesses presented testimony from a number of perspectives: (1) Joel R. Reidenberg, Chair and Professor of […]
Making Perfect De-Identification the Enemy of Good De-Identification
This week, Ann Cavoukian and Dan Castro waded into the de-identification debate with a new whitepaper, arguing that the risk of re-identification has been greatly exaggerated and that de-identification will play a central role in the age of big data. FPF has repeatedly called for the need for informed conversations about what practical de-identification requires, […]
Seeking Submissions for Privacy Papers for Policy Makers 2014
FPF is pleased to invite privacy scholars, professionals, and others with an interest in privacy issues to submit papers to be considered for inclusion in FPF’s fifth annual edition of “Privacy Papers for Policy Makers.” The purpose of Privacy Papers for Policy Makers is to present policy makers with highlights of important research and analytical […]
Facebook Gives Users More Control With New “Facebook Login”
Today at f8, Facebook announced a new version of “Facebook Login,” the system that allows Facebook users to log into third-party apps and sites with their Facebook account. The new Facebook Login has a number of new and improved privacy controls, which will be very helpful for users seeking to control the information that gets […]
Press Release: EU-US Safe Harbor Essential To Leading European Companies
NEW FPF STUDY DOCUMENTS OVER 150 EUROPEAN COMPANIES PARTICIPATING IN THE US-EU SAFE HARBOR PROGRAM. FROM MAJOR EMPLOYERS SUCH AS ALCATEL LUCENT, ADIDAS, BMW, NOKIA TO FAST-GROWING START-UPS LIKE APP DEVELOPER MIND CANDY, EUROPEAN COMPANIES DEPEND ON EU-US AGREEMENT _____________________________________________________________________________________ The Future of Privacy Forum has conducted a study of the US-EU Safe Harbor program […]
FPF Applauds Department of Commerce For Safe Harbor Website Revision
The Department of Commerce has long listed companies’ participation in the US-EU Safe Harbor program in the Safe Harbor List. Within that list, a significant number of companies are marked with the designation “not current.” As FPF wrote in its paper discussing the Safe Harbor, a company can be listed as “not current” for a […]