Privacy Introduction Emerson Murphy-Hill

Why do we care about privacy? Much of what we do in today’s society involves information exchange e.g. government, commerce, healthcare For people to be comfortable and willing to take full advantage of IT services we need to: Safeguard their privacy Let them understand we’re safeguarding their privacy “91% of adults in the survey “agree” or “strongly agree” that consumers have lost control over how personal information is collected and used by companies.” Pew Internet Poll, 2014

Why is privacy important? Privacy helps us maintain our: Individuality Autonomy Freedom of choice Anonymity is one form of protection of our privacy Once lost it can seldom be fully recovered

Historical Perspective – Privacy Not New “The Right to Privacy” Samuel Warren & Louis Brandeis (Harvard Law Review) Responded to the threats to privacy posed by new technologies photographs and newspapers Unauthorized circulation of portraits of private persons Argued that privacy was, in itself, a right belonging to the individual -- apart from property rights, contract rights, and other considerations. “Right to be let alone” Still not recognized (e.g., telemarketing calls) “Right to be forgotten” forgiven/2014/11/21/ c-669a-11e4-9fdc-d43b053ecb4d_story.html