All Publications
Better Data Needed on Data Privacy and Security Issues
Without substantially better data and analysis, policymakers cannot make informed decisions concerning data privacy and security legislation, stated Thomas Lenard in testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. During the hearing, “Privacy and Data Security: Protecting Consumers in the Modern World,” Lenard also stressed that data privacy and security are different issues and should be dealt with separately by policymakers.
Aspen Panel: Information and Privacy: In Search of a Data-Driven Policy
Data privacy raises issues that are central to the health of the Internet ecosystem and will be a major focus of this year’s TPI Aspen Forum. While proposals have emanated from the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Commerce, and Congress, few data exist on the nature and extent of the problem and how proposed privacy regulations would impact consumers. Distinguished speakers from academia, government and industry will debate the future of privacy policy during the discussion panel, “Information and Privacy: In Search of a Data-Driven Policy.” The TPI Aspen Forum is scheduled for August 21 – 23 in Aspen, Colorado.
The Illusory Privacy Problem in Sorrell v. IMS Health
Those in the habit of looking for privacy invasions can find them everywhere. This phenomenon is on display in the recent news coverage of Sorrell v. IMS Health Inc., a case currently under review by the Supreme Court. The litigation challenges a Vermont law that would limit the dissemination and use of prescription drug data for the purposes of marketing to physicians by pharmaceutical companies. The prescription data at issue identify the prescribing physician and pharmacy, but provide only limited detail about the patients (for example, the patient�s age in years and gender). Nevertheless, privacy organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) have filed amici curiae briefs sounding distress alarms for patient privacy. A recent New York Times article describes the case as one that puts the privacy interests of “little people” against the formidable powers of “Big Data.” The fear is that, in the information age, data subjects could be re-identified using the vast amount of auxiliary information available about each of us in commercial databases and on the internet.
Little Risk of Re-Identification through Health Data
Properly anonymized health data pose little risk of patient identification, state Jane Yakowitz and Daniel Barth-Jones in “The Illusory Privacy Problem in Sorrell v. IMS Health,” published today by the Technology Policy Institute. Moreover, if the Department of Health and Human Services were to abandon the distinction between personally identifiable and anonymized data (as the Federal Trade Commission has done in its recent report) “the result would be nothing short of disastrous for health care improvements and medical research,” according to the authors.
Improving ICANN’s Governance and Accountability: A Policy Proposal
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has control over extremely important aspects of the Internet. Yet, its non-profit corporation status, combined with the way that it is funded and governed, make accountability a serious problem. This paper draws on the accountability framework that has been developed by Mueller (2009) to evaluate the structure and governance of ICANN and then compares it to the structure and governance of a number of other organizations that perform a roughly comparable range of coordination and standard-setting functions, to explore what might be applicable to ICANN. Virtually all of these other organizations are governed by their direct users, thereby building accountability into their structures. We suggest that this would be a good model for ICANN as well.
ICANN Should Move Toward Greater Private Sector Accountability
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers should be more accountable to its private sector users, state Thomas Lenard and Lawrence White in �Improving ICANN’s Governance and Accountability: A Policy Proposal,� published in the latest issue of Information Economics and Policy. Instead of increased government involvement, as some have been advocating, Lenard and White recommend ICANN be governed by its direct users, the registries and registrars, as a way of improving accountability, a longstanding issue with ICANN.