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Aug 29, 2020
4 min

The Privacy Field Needs More Diversity

Before Kamala Harris became the first woman of color nominated for Vice President of the United States, she was also one of the few Black, Asian-American female attorneys focused on privacy issues. In 2013, as California’s attorney general, she sponsored, and California enacted, a law requiring tech companies to post in privacy policies whether they abide by do-not-track requests and what personally identifiable information they collect from users. Two years later, in 2015, s

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aaross25

Jun 5, 2020
4 min

Covid 19 -Ethical and Privacy Concerns

The global pandemic has significantly impacted our lives and raised ethical and privacy concerns for individuals, companies and society as a whole. While the more authoritarian countries such as China and Singapore mandated strict quarantining, social distancing and mask-wearing for citizens early on in the pandemic, the U.S. has relied more heavily on voluntary compliance, which allows for outliers who protest public health measures they feel restrict individual rights and f

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aaross25

Mar 8, 2020
2 min

Celebrating International Women’s Day

Today, March 8, is International Women’s Day (IWD) . IWD was first recognized in 1911, and is celebrated annually by a distributed set of global groups and organizations that stand up for women and diversity. The 2020 IWD campaign theme is #EachforEqual and promotes equality to enable global progress – “an equal world is an enabled world.” The theme recognizes our individual responsibility and positive change that comes from social activism and collective involvement. “Indi

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These are a Few of My Favorite Podcasts on Privacy, Security and Technology

aaross25

Feb 16, 2020
5 min

These are a Few of My Favorite Podcasts on Privacy, Security and Technology

One hundred million people listened to at least one podcast every week in 2019. And no wonder–podcasts offer a range of topics to pique your interest, satisfy your curiosity, or simply entertain with powerful stories. Although they provide easy access anytime and anywhere, the most popular places for listening are at home, in the car, or exercising. As a privacy professional I’ve found podcast listening to be a painless way to learn and engage in new subject matter. From the

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Building Trust in Data Protection and Compliance

aaross25

Dec 20, 2019
5 min

Building Trust in Data Protection and Compliance

Showtime reality TV show, Couples Therapy, which features couples seeking help for their distressed relationship, see individuals who have lied, cheated on their spouses, answered questions evasively, and generally disrespected a partner’s basic need for open communication and genuine connection. It’s no secret that such behaviors cause another person to experience grief, anger, hurt, disappointment, confusion, and loss. When the offending party feels guilt for their actions,

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aaross25

Oct 25, 2019
4 min

How to train your AI

The Viking village of Berk, a small town in the fictional world of the animated film How to Train Your Dragon, is frequently the target of attacks by—gasp—dragons! The son of the Viking chief, a young boy named Hiccup, is seen by his father and others as unfit to fight against the onslaught of winged menaces who snatch away valuable livestock and destroy property in their town. To make up for his lack of physical strength and fighting prowess, Hiccup tinkers with gizmos and g

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aaross25

Sep 3, 2019
5 min

Practice Data Minimization

Even if you’re not a full-blown hoarder, it’s reasonable to assume that you have an attic, or a garage, or even just a junk drawer where all those things that don’t fit anywhere else, but you’re sure you’ll need someday, live. None of us are immune to accumulating ‘stuff’ that can become clutter. It’s a byproduct of consumption—of changing fashions, priorities, bodies, and budgets. But clutter can be a distraction, delay productivity and in some cases be dangerous. It can bec

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aaross25

Jul 11, 2019
4 min

Are You Ready for the Data New Deal?

It’s pretty hard to listen to anything about climate change, at least in the United States, and not hear something about the Green New Deal. Popularized most recently by progressive democrats like Elizabeth Warren and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, thinkers and politicians have been advancing some form of a Green New Deal for decades. Jill Stein set a version of the Green New Deal as her cornerstone platform piece when she ran for president in 2012 and 2016, and credits Howie Hawk

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aaross25

Jun 7, 2019
4 min

Data Ethics for Humans

Way back in 2014, when I first started my blog, I wrote about Privacy for Humans – a movement towards human centered use of technology. I expanded on this theme in my 2016 ebook, called Privacy for Humans, which provides tools for mindfully cultivating privacy awareness—tools just as applicable today as they were then. Well, here we are in the future. It’s 2019, and we’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly in terms of privacy wins and fails. The bad and ugly came in the form

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Privacy 2018: Reflections from a Privacy Professional

aaross25

Dec 31, 2018
3 min

Privacy 2018: Reflections from a Privacy Professional

When we look back on watershed years for privacy issues, 2018 may be one for the ages. After more than a decade working towards the transformative potential of social media, the Internet and mobile devices, it seems we are finally beginning to wake to the real-world implications of such wide-reaching technology. On one hand, 2018 was a year rife with privacy scandals, massive data breaches, congressional hearings about privacy and technology, and revelations about social medi

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Tell Me How You Really Feel: Mood Prediction Tech

aaross25

Dec 3, 2018
3 min

Tell Me How You Really Feel: Mood Prediction Tech

Privacy is a choice, but we may not always be conscious of how much we’re sharing. Time and time again we’ve learned how our networked world gathers our information in some cases without our complete transparency. From location data leaking from physical fitness devices to law enforcement passively collecting biometric information with facial recognition software, our lives are often quantified without full knowledge by the user. Even our genetic quest for self-knowledge may

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Apple & ACLU: Privacy is Good for Business

aaross25

Nov 2, 2018
2 min

Apple & ACLU: Privacy is Good for Business

A common objection to privacy regulation is the idea that innovation will be stifled by anything which hinders a company’s ability to collect, analyze, and leverage personal data. But is this true? The claim is closely aligned with absolute free market ideology, and deprecates the value of privacy and free speech may have in the healthy growth of business, innovation, and the creation of a human-centric world. What if privacy protection were not a cumbersome bug, as some sugg

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Facial Recognition & Law Enforcement: Do You Have That Guilty Look?

aaross25

Oct 19, 2018
3 min

Facial Recognition & Law Enforcement: Do You Have That Guilty Look?

In the days of the mythic Wild West, the “Wanted!” poster was a staple of tales in which lawmen hunted outlaws. Desperados took many names, but it was their face which bank clerks and saloon owners recognized. Today the wanted poster is rapidly becoming obsolete with the rise of facial recognition technology, but with these systems comes a new sort of untamed frontier. As powerful systems spot and match faces in the crowd to databases of criminals and suspects, who’s watching

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A Solid New Plan for a Privacy-First Internet?

aaross25

Oct 5, 2018
2 min

A Solid New Plan for a Privacy-First Internet?

It can be all too easy to succumb to cynicism or apathy when it comes to how our information is collected, used, and sold online. We shop, we share, and we may trade our personal data for the convenience the internet provides us. Well, if you’ve found yourself feeling resigned to the seemingly opaque practices of King GAFA, take heart: there’s a knight of the first-order who believes we can rebalance the power. His name is Sir Tim Berners-Lee, and he knows more than a little

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aaross25

Sep 21, 2018
3 min

New Insights into Teen Screen Time

How much do you really know about teen attitudes toward their devices and the role social media plays in their lives? Pop culture often simplifies our perceptions of younger generations and the complex relationship they have with our networked world, but seldom do we see a deeper dive into the full range of issues. Fortunately, there are ongoing research projects designed to tackle questions of device attachment, distraction, habits, and mental health. In August 2018, the Pew

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aaross25

May 25, 2018
2 min

The GDPR – Keeping the Momentum

May 25th has arrived and with it the enforcement deadline for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We can all let out a sigh (or scream) of relief. What happens now (other than some well deserved vacations)? Will May 26th be anticlimactic for privacy professionals? How do we keep up momentum for data protection post-GDPR? Despite the speed with which companies have scrambled to prepare for GDPR, data governance is a marathon not a sprint. Successful privacy programs

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aaross25

May 4, 2018
2 min

Are Privacy Tides Changing?

Malcom Gladwell writes in his book Tipping Point, “That is the paradox of the epidemic: that in order to create one contagious movement, you often have to create many small movements first.” These small movements may not seem like much until there is a real sea change. But there are moments when you can sense the tides changing, and we may be in the midst of one right now in the data privacy sphere. Could the privacy tides really be changing? Making Headlines: Facebook & GDP

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Inclusion Riders and the Mindful Use of Influence

aaross25

Mar 16, 2018
2 min

Inclusion Riders and the Mindful Use of Influence

It was McDormand’s parting shot, a chance to bring a relatively obscure legal term into the zeitgeist’s spotlight. After an impassioned speech championing the call for diversity in Hollywood, McDormand raised the awareness of everyone in the room about something they could do to promote a more fair and equitable hiring situation. A rider is defined as “attachment, schedule, amendment, or other writing that is annexed (added) to a document in order to modify it.” Riders are us

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Artist Laurie Frick: Making Much of the Immaterial and Big Data

aaross25

Mar 2, 2018
3 min

Artist Laurie Frick: Making Much of the Immaterial and Big Data

Visionary artists have always found ways to embrace new materials and mediums for their art. There are no boundaries for the modern artist who must attempt to make meaning within and reimagine the world. But what about the immaterial world? What of the virtual and the invisible which we shed every day online and via our use of technology? Can the information trail of our individual humanity be fashioned into fresh artistic expression? Laurie Frick, an artist who embraces big

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Attention: You Are Now Entering a “No Phone Zone”

aaross25

Feb 16, 2018
3 min

Attention: You Are Now Entering a “No Phone Zone”

If you dream of a whole day without your digital device at hand, you’re probably like a lot of people who feel their smartphone has taken over their attention span. The idea of a vacation from notifications, alerts, and constant refreshing can seem like an impossible fantasy. But what if someone forced you into a “no phone zone” for a few hours? Phone-free spaces are virtually impossible to create, which is why the company Yondr has developed a physical system for locking dow

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