The economics of privacy and surveillance: assessing the social costs and benefits Vicki Nash Oxford Internet Institute Web Science June 2015

Four years ago…

The economics of privacy & surveillance Consumers want to access cheaper goods and services, and to minimise their search costs. Producers want to sell us goods and services, and our data helps them price maximise. Personal data has a value: to advertisers, producers, governments and criminals. Individuals suffer from cognitive bias Parties in data transactions may have asymmetric access to information Companies collecting or selling on personal data may not account for negative externalities As it becomes cheaper to collect and store personal data, more of it is likely to be gathered and held. (From Brown, I. in Latzer, M. & Bauer, J.M. (2015))

Flickr: Rachel Lovinger Flickr: KnitSpirit Flickr: Christian Haugen

Flickr: Jason Armstrong Data subjects are vulnerable.

Key challenges for policy in 2011 Ensuring meaningful consent and control of one’s own data Improving transparency of what data held, where, by whom and for what Ensuring predictable and equal enforcement of data protection legislation Regulating for the whole ecology of data actors Enabling identity and authentication services whilst preserving privacy

…and for other societal actors Expanding the range of privacy-preserving products and services Stimulating public debate about privacy norms and behaviours Providing multi-disciplinary perspectives on privacy Educating and supporting users Considering the implications of digital legacies after death

The Internet of Things is here

New EU Data Protection Regulation is on its way

The full extent of state surveillance has been revealed

New business models and services

Deletion and rights of erasure

So, some progress: INNOVATION LIMITED REGULATORY ADVANCE PUBLIC DEBATE But what old and new challenges remain?

Flickr: Jason Armstrong Data subjects are *still* vulnerable.

Flickr: Jason Armstrong Data subjects are *still* vulnerable. Big data: for the public good? The personal and social costs of ‘free’

Flickr: Jason Armstrong Data subjects are *still* vulnerable.

“That the excess of data can pose a danger to freedom and democracy is as significant as (if not more significant than) the lack of data, has mostly been lost on those cheerleading for Internet freedom” (Morozov 2012) Flickr: Edith Soto “Our very presence in the world has changed this digital totality and we cannot have the right to rewrite history to erase those traces.” (David Omand, former GCHQ Director, quoted in the Guardian, 19/2/15)

Flickr: Jason Armstrong Data subjects are *still* vulnerable. Big data: for the public good?

Security Privacy Utility Public good Efficiency Moving beyond Privacy vs Security

Thank