Today's announcement that the Library of Congress will be archiving all public tweets since March 2006 prompts many questions. But most people, I suspect, are comfortable with the concept since the LOC is only archiving public tweets; those who decided…
Read More How Your Private Tweets Might Be Included in the Library of Congress Public Archive
The Library of Congress tweeted today that they are acquiring the entire archive of public Twitter activity since March 2006. While the LOC stresses that they're doing this for historical and scholarly reasons, there are major implications regarding the privacy and contextual expectations of Twitter users. Now, suddenly, all their tweets are being archived by the world's largest library. Yes, the tweets were always public and discoverable, but the searchability and accessibility will increase drastically if/when the LOC processes this archive. Due to these concerns, there are some vital questions that must be addressed prior to implementing such an expansive archive of public Twitter activity.
I am pleased to announce that I've joined a diverse coalition of privacy groups, think tanks, technology companies, and fellow academics in an effort to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) to better reflect the realities of modern communication…
Read More Digital Due Process: Modernizing Surveillance Laws for the Internet Age
For those nearby, I'll be the featured speaker at the Pub Politico gathering on Sunday, March 21, 2:00pm at Brocach Irish Pub in Madison, Wisconsin. I'll be speaking, informally, about "Failures in Self-Regulation in Online Privacy", focusing on recent examples…
Read More Pub Politico talk in Madison: Failures in Self-Regulation in Online Privacy
To celebrate Data Privacy Day, Google has published its 5 guiding privacy principles. The principles are something every organization should commit to and strive for. The problem is, Google hasn't adhered to them quite as closely as they'd want you to believe....
A story today on NPR's Morning Edition news program focused on the controversy surrounding Facebook’s recent privacy upgrade downgrade: "Groups Complain To FTC About Facebook Changes" My discussion with the reporter, Martin Kaste, covered most of the issues raised in…
Read More NPR: Groups Complain To FTC About Facebook Changes
Facebook recently announced significant changes to how information will flow on the social network, impacting users' privacy in both positive and (potentially) negative ways. First, the good news: as hinted back in June, Facebook will be implementing a new feature…
Google describes Dashboard as a simple way to view “the data associated with your account”, and that it will provide users “greater transparency and control over their own data.” Elsewhere, Dashboard has been described as a “big concession to users’ privacy rights“, as the answer to the question: “What does Google know about me?”, and as a place providing users “more control over the personal information stored in Google’s databases“. Unfortunately, Google Dashboard is none of these things.
[UPDATE: The final paper has been published in Ethics and Information Technology]Next week I will be attending the 8th International Conference of Computer Ethics: Philosophical Enquiry in Corfu, Greece, where I will be presenting an early draft of a paper…
Read More Draft Paper: “But the Data is Already Public”: On the Ethics of Research in Facebook
Speaking of the need to better educate consumers about digital privacy concerns, today's New York Times features two articles that shed light on two widespread online data collection practices. The article "Online Age Quiz Is a Window for Drug Makers"…
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