Technology in Government (TIG) and Topics in Privacy (TIP)
12/2/2013 refreshments served at 2:30p, discussion 3 to 4pm in room K354, at 1737 Cambridge Street, Cambridge, MA 02138.
Title: Privacy, Personhood, Product, Profit
Discussant: Deborah Hurley
Privacy is a human right, with firm grounding in human rights conventions adopted by most countries and implemented in remarkably consistent laws throughout the world. Yet, personal information also has commercial applications and implications. What are the tenets of privacy as a human right? What are the “personal information as property” ideas? Are they irreconcilable? When it comes to protection of privacy and personal data, who’s in charge, who benefits, how and where do benefits flow, and who gets a piece of the pie? What lessons from other legal and social disciplines might inform protection of privacy and personal data in the ubiquitous information environment?
Bio:
Deborah Hurley received the Namur Award of the International Federation of Information Processing in recognition of outstanding contributions, with international impact, to awareness of social implications of information technology. She is the author of Pole Star: Human Rights in the Information Society, "Information Policy and Governance" in Governance in a Globalizing World, and other publications. At the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in Paris, France, she was responsible for drafting, negotiation and adoption of the OECD Guidelines for the Security of Information Systems. Hurley is Chair, Board of Directors, Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). She directed the Harvard University Information Infrastructure Project and carried out a Fulbright study in Korea.