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Few topics in education have generated as much discussion as the potential for data and technology to transform teaching and learning. While the public discourse has been dominated by advocates and critics alike, we’ve learned little about how most parents of school-aged children view the risks and opportunities of using data and technology in the […]
Framing the "Big Data Industry"
For all its hype, discussions about Big Data often still devolve into debates about buzzwords and concepts like business intelligence, data analytics, and machine learning. Hidden in each of these terms are important privacy and ethical considerations. A recent article by Kirsten Martin in MIS Quarterly Executive attempts to bring these considerations to the surface by moving past framing […]
White House Return to Big Data Focuses on Price Discrimination
Today, the White House released an interim progress report detailing the Administration’s efforts on privacy in big data since its landmark report last spring. The update highlights the President’s recent calls for new privacy legislation, including efforts on student privacy and the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights, and also calls for deeper understanding of differential […]
Comments after the FTC Workshop on Big Data: Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion?
Today, FPF filed an additional set of comments in the wake of the FTC’s fall workshop, Big Data: A Tool for Inclusion or Exclusion? The comments focus on some of the challenges around defining what exactly “Big Data” is, and the increasing need to have a firmer ethical framework for having conversations about data use. […]
Thoughts on the Data Innovation Pledge
Yesterday, as he accepted the IAPP Privacy Vanguard award, Intel’s David Hoffman made a “data innovation pledge” that he would work only to promote ethical and innovative uses of data. As someone who only relatively recently entered the privacy world by diving headfirst into the sea of challenges surrounding big data, I think an affirmative […]
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 […]
Comments to NTIA on Big Data and Privacy
Today, FPF submitted comments to the NTIA as it begins its exploration of how big data impact the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights. While the NTIA sought comment on over a dozen key questions, our filing focus largely on four issues: (1) the need for additional clarity surrounding the flexible application of the Consumer Privacy […]
"Gambling? In This Casino?" Jules and Omer on the Facebook Experiment
Today, Re/code ran an essay by Jules Polonetsky and Omer Tene, offering their take on the Facebook’s now-infamous experiment looking at the effects of tweaking the amount of positive or negative comments on a user’s News Feed: As the companies that serve us play an increasingly intimate role in our lives, understanding how they shape […]