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Some Notes on Privacy

Some Notes on Privacy. 1001 Week11 November 27, 2013; from October 18, 2012 original slides. Social Construction of Privacy. Cultural considerations Socio-economic differences “ Real space ” vs. “ cyberspace ” (and its slipperiness) Privacy as a claim, entitlement, or right

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Some Notes on Privacy

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  1. Some Notes on Privacy 1001Week11November 27, 2013; from October 18, 2012 original slides

  2. Social Construction of Privacy • Cultural considerations • Socio-economic differences • “Real space” vs. “cyberspace” (and its slipperiness) • Privacy as a claim, entitlement, or right • Depends on context (Nissenbaum’s notion of contextual integrity)

  3. Contextual Integrity • “The framework of contextual integrity is a justificatory framework for establishing whether socio-technical devices, systems, and practices affecting the flow of personal information in a society are morally and politically legitimate. Although, as such, is is neither a theory of a legal right to privacy or a definition of a legal concept of privacy, it can serve as a foundation for law and regulation by providing a standard against which legislation (existing or proposed) and detailed rules are tested” (p.236, Privacy in Context (2010).

  4. Definitions of Privacy (adapted from Val Steeves in Mediascapes, 2006, 2010, 2013) • Warren & Brandeis, 1890, the “right to be left alone.” Use of news photography in newspapers…new disruptions in social boundaries (Carolyn Marvin) • “the right to enjoy private space”: House of Commons, SC on Human Rights and the Status of Persons with Disabilities

  5. Four Ways of Looking at Privacy • As a human right • As an essential part of the democratic process • As a social value • As data protection

  6. Privacy as a Human Right Essential aspect of human dignity and autonomy • Right to privacy linked to the development of international human rights legislation… • Post WWII, response to Nazism--UN Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Art. 12: “no one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence” • Canada: original signatory of UN Dec., 1976 ratified International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights

  7. In Canada -- is privacy a human right? • Patchy • Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not include express right • Courts have ruled for “reasonable expectation” of privacy (R. v. Duarte, 1990). • In digital world, what is reasonable expectation?

  8. Privacy as a democratic value • Individual freedom and autonomy • Intrinsic to citizenship • Tension now: risk society, surveillance society (or paranoid society?; security vs. privacy) • How do digital technologies weaken our sense of community, communication, democracy- and privacy?

  9. Privacy as a Social Value • Consider our own sense of personal proxemics… • We need to be able to control and define our relationships with others and the state • Surveillance can endanger our sense of trust • With globalization how has our sense of intimacy changed? In large urban centres? In small communities? • How have socio-technical developments & design enabled/constrained ‘reasonable expectations’ of privacy • What happens when the default setting is more transparency – and you don’t want it? Re: Zuckerberg and Facebook

  10. Privacy as Data Protection • Changes in technology create new conception of protecting personal privacy, e.g. from paper-based systems to databases to inter-networked global internet systems • Issues of data mining and cross-compilation across diverse databases • Transborder flows of data and issues of national and cultural sovereignty

  11. Council of Europe: 1980 Convention for the Protection of Individuals with Regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data • Framework for collection, use, access, accuracy, and disposal of personal information • Cultural constructs - Europeans more sensitive of the need to protect personal information from governments and individuals in light of WWII

  12. OECD - Guidelines Governing the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Data Flows of Personal Data, 1980 • Fair information practices included: data protection • Disclosure for purpose of data collection • Prove relevance of data collection • Ensure data is accurate, high quality • Procure security safeguards against unauthorized data access • Use data only for purposes for which it is collected • Establish open policies re: nature of data and how it is stored • Collector of data must be accountable for its collection and use

  13. The commodification of personal information and data >>Metaphors: panopticon, popularized by Foucault and Gandy’s ‘panoptic sort’ >>How has privacy become commodified and implicated in our everyday lives? >>How are marketing and the capitalist system implicated in creating this ‘panoptic sort’? >>What are new trends in data mining, behavioral marketing?

  14. Internet and Privacy • How has the internet exacerbated the collection of personal information? • Cookies and user profiles - useful or privacy destructive? Appropriate use? • Case of DoubleClick…, SNS, third party marketing, Google, Facebook, other social media ‘transparency’‘options’

  15. Issues in Data Retention • EU Directive on Data Protection: Requires that member countries adopt or adapt national data protection laws by 1998 • Proposes limitation • Data quality • Transparency • Security • Rights of access • Restrictions on transfer • http://www.cdt.org/privacy/eudirective/

  16. When data is collected… • Why is information being collected? • How will personal information be disclosed to third parties? • Can individuals get access to data with ability to correct or amend? • How can data integrity be ensured?

  17. Privacy in Canada • We have no explicit constitutional right to privacy, but…. • Sections 7, 8, and 10 of the The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms have been interpreted by courts to contain some privacy rights… • However, Charter does not apply to private sector, only governments • Privacy legislation rooted in language of the marketplace

  18. Quebec’s Constitutional Privacy Protection • Art. 5 of Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms (1975)-respect for private life • Civil Code amendment of 1987-respect of individual privacy • Quebec’s Act respecting access to documents….-individual right to access to personal and non-p info held by levels of governments… • Act Respecting Protection of Personal Information in Private Sector (1994)

  19. Privacy Act (1982) • Regulates collection, use, disclosure and disposal of personal information held by government/public sector • Does not apply to private companies-e. eg., telecom, insurance, banks, broadcasting • Deals only in data • No penalties for violation

  20. PIPEDA-Personal Information Protection & Electronic Documents Act (2001) • Code of fair information practices for business • Related to collection, use and disclosure of personal information • Consensus of a variety of stakeholders • Onus on Privacy Commissioner of Canada

  21. PIPEDA • Balance: commercial rights vs. individual rights • Is business compliance a nightmare? • Are voluntary codes sufficient? • Can it improve consumer confidence (e.g, with e-commerce?) • Currently updating

  22. Tensions with PIPEDA • Privacy for consumer rights • Privacy issues are trade issues • See selected cases at Privacy Commissioner of Canada…www.privcom.gc.ca

  23. Privacy Protection Codes • Voluntary codes • Industry and private sector companies • Canadian Bankers Assoc. brought code into line with Canadian Standards Association Code (CSA) • Are voluntary models adequate? “suffers from perception that individual’s privacy rights are in hands of those who have the most to gain from the processing of personal data” (Colin Bennett)

  24. House of Commons Report re Privacy, 1997 • Looks at privacy as a social good, a common good • A fundamental human right • Privacy a balancing act between competing interests • Delineates ethical blueprint of core privacy principles (personal space, personal communications, of information, physical privacy, freedom from surveillance) • Later, Privacy Rights Charter, 2000, see http://www.parl.gc.ca/37/1/parlbus/chambus/senate/bills/public/S-21/S-21_1/S-21_text-e.htm

  25. Crypto Policy • PKI or public key infrastructure-digital signature stuff • Encryption technology • Who controls the keys? • Tensions between government and individuals • Fear of criminal activity

  26. PETs and Privacy • Smart cards • Biometric encryption • CCTC or CCTV • Electronic Monitoring • Genetic Testing

  27. Hot Topics in Privacy • Datamining • Health Privacy • Efficacy of PETs • Workplace privacy and surveillance • Children’s privacy - COPPA(US) http://www.cdt.org/legislation/105th/privacy/coppa.htm • Surveillance post 9/11: US PATRIOT ACT, Public Safety Act, biometrics, deep packet inspection, outsourcing and data integrity…PRISM & NSA • Social media & commodification & BIG DATA

  28. Conclusion: Privacy as a Common Good • Looks at cyberspace as ‘commons’ • Who owns information? • Information ‘ecosystem’ • Tension between private good vs. common good • Rights of users vs rights of corporations

  29. Privacy Rights Advocates and Activist PI Groups • EPIC: www.epic.org • PIAC: www.piac.ca • Privacy International: www.privacyinternational.org • EFF: www.eff.org • CPSR: www.cpsr.org • GILC: www.gilc.org • CIPPIC: www.cippic.ca • And government (federal, provincial privacy commissions)

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