2nd Annual McGowan Forum on Ethics: The Challenge of Big Data
On October 26, 2017, John Verdi, FPF’s Vice President of Policy, was a panelist for the National Archives Foundation’s 2nd Annual McGowan Forum on Ethics: The Challenge of Big Data. The panel discussed the ethical responsibility of those who compile and track citizens’ personal data. The conversation focused around what responsibility corporations and governments have to protect their customers and be transparent in regard to possible data hacks.
Law Enforcement Access to Student Records: What Is the Law?
Today, the Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) released “Law Enforcement Access to Student Records: A Guide for School Administrators & Ed Tech Service Providers,” written by Amelia Vance and Sarah Williamson. This guide helps to answer some of the basic questions that we have heard from key stakeholders about law enforcement access to data over the past nine months.
Study: EU-US Privacy Shield Essential to Leading European Companies
The Future of Privacy Forum conducted a study of the companies enrolled in the US-EU Privacy Shield program and determined that 114 European headquartered companies are active Privacy Shield Participants. These European companies rely on the program to transfer data to their US subsidiaries or to essential vendors that support their business needs.
Location Controls in iOS 11 Highlight the Role of Platforms
From Pokémon Go, to the geo-targeting of abortion clinics, to state legislative efforts, the last year has seen significant attention paid to the many ways our apps use and often share location data. In the midst of this heightened awareness of geo-location privacy, iPhone users and app developers may notice a difference this Fall, when Apple will be releasing updates to iOS 11 that will increase users’ control over how their geo-location may be collected and used. The changes highlight the ongoing importance—and legal implications—of platform settings for consumer privacy.
Various other interesting info
Research Professor Mireille Hildebrandt, from Vrije Universiteit Brussels, published open access the paper “Privacy as the Protection of the Incomputable Self: Agonistic Machine Learning“, where she argues, using law, philosophy and insights from computer science, that “in the era of big data analytics we need an understanding of privacy that is capable of protecting what […]
Privacy Scholarship Research Reporter: Issue 1, May 2017 – Algorithms: Privacy Risk and Accountability
Notes from FPF Through academic, policy, and industry circles, making progress on the cluster of issues related to algorithmic accountability has become a leading priority. The inaugural issue of the Future of Privacy Forum’s Privacy Scholarship Reporter provides a clear and compelling look into some of the most worrisome problems and promising solutions. Although not […]
Privacy Scholarship Reporter – Issue 1
Algorithms: Privacy Risk and Accountability by FPF Staff Through academic, policy, and industry circles, making progress on the cluster of issues related to algorithmic accountability has become a leading priority. The inaugural issue of the Future of Privacy Forum’s Privacy Scholarship Reporter provides a clear and compelling look into some of the most worrisome problems […]
W&L Law Review Publishes First-ever Disclosure of Facebook Internal Review Process
The Facebook study was the product of a symposium sponsored by W&L Law and theFuture of Privacy Forum (FPF), a DC-based think tank that promotes responsible data privacy policies. The topic of the symposium, as the Facebook paper suggests, was ethical review processes for big data research, with an emphasis on the ethical challenges of internal corporate research by companies that are able to harvest massive amounts of digital data. The event was also supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and the National Science Foundation.
Protecting the Privacy of Customers of Broadband and Other Telecommunications Services
The Future of Privacy Forum filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to the FCC’s proposed rules regarding the privacy and data practices of Internet Services Providers (ISPs). The FCC’s March 31, 2016 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM or Notice) seeks to regulate ISP’s data practices pursuant to Section 222 of the Communications Act – a sector-specific statute that includes detailed requirements that apply to telecommunications services, but does not apply to other services offered by broadband providers nor to online services operating at the edge of the network (e.g. web sites).
Enhancing Usability for Online Privacy Controls
Today, Google announced new features that provide users with additional customized options and controls over personal data, as well as easy-to-follow instructions and notifications that explain users’ choices in simple terms. The new features make privacy controls quicker to find and easier to understand and operate.