[MyData & Open Data] Open Data Research Network meeting on Privacy - write up

[Song, Stephen]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for including me in that discussion.  It was great to hear the
diversity of perspectives.  So far in the privacy and open data dialogue, I
have found that the discussions get this far i.e. acknowledging the
potentially competing priorities but without going much further.  In the
interest of spurring further debate, I would like to suggest some next
steps.  These ideas are embryonic.  I will be in no way offended if someone
suggests a better approach.

1/  I think the Open Data principles need to explicitly acknowledge privacy
as a key issue.  The Open Economic Principles (
http://openeconomics.net/principles/) are a great step in this direction
but I see no reason why Economics should be unique in this regard.

2/  "Open by default" is an essential principle of Open Data.  Steps need
to be taken to reconcile 'open by default' with protection of privacy.

3/  I think any dataset needs a privacy statement, even if it is as simple
as something that states "There are no known privacy issues related to this
dataset".   Any dataset without a privacy statement shouldn't be published.
 Existence of a privacy statement reveals that someone has at least thought
about privacy related to the dataset, however briefly.

4/  Privacy statements should be attributed in order to facilitate an
ongoing dialogue.

5/  We need to develop methodologies and processes for having a structured
conversation about privacy related to any particular dataset.  Perhaps a
list of basic questions to start with.

6/  We need to acknowledge that there may be degrees of openness / privacy
which provide limited access in some cases.  The binary notion of open or
closed isn't going to get us far enough.

7/  The existence of datasets should be mandated to be open under any
circumstances, and openly accessible subject to the publication of a
privacy statement.

Cheers... Steve


On 6 August 2013 05:30, Tim Davies <tim at practicalparticipation.co.uk> wrote:

> Hey Laura,
>
> Thanks for spotting this and sharing with the list.
>
> We didn't conclude on any specific next steps from the web meeting last
> week other than to write up some notes from it - but hopefully the
> different research projects who took part will each be looking at privacy
> in their own work.
>
> However, if you've any ideas for further follow up we could do that would
> be great. One possibility could be to get some of those who were involved
> to collaborative on a short primer for policy makers about the issues... as
> I was looking for something like this ahead of the meeting and couldn't
> find anything terribly clear.
>
> I wonder if that's something this list might be interested in joining in
> work on too?
>
> All the best
>
> Tim
>
>
> On Tue, Aug 6, 2013 at 7:50 AM, Laura James <laura.james at okfn.org> wrote:
>
>> Folks,
>>
>> There's a write up of a recent IDRC trans-network meeting about open data
>> and privacy:
>>
>>
>> http://www.opendataresearch.org/content/2013/501/open-data-privacy-discussion-notes
>>
>> *The Privacy in the Developing World network<https://www.privacyinternational.org/projects/privacy-in-the-developing-world>,
>> and the Open Data in Developing Countries<http://www.opendataresearch.org/emergingimpacts/>network set out to explore whether open data and protecting privacy are
>> inherently in tension, or whether the two can be complementary, and to
>> identify particular issues that might come up around privacy and open data
>> in the developing world. This post shares and develops some of the themes
>> discussed in the meeting.*
>>
>> It's a good introduction to some of the issues and concerns on both
>> sides.
>>
>> Were there any next steps from the web meeting?
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Laura
>>
>>
>> --
>> *
>>
>>  Dr Laura James
>>
>> Co-Director  | skype: laura.james  |  @LaurieJ<https://twitter.com/LaurieJ>
>>
>> The Open Knowledge Foundation <http://okfn.org/>
>>
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>
>
> --
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>
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-- 
Steve Song
+1 902 529 0046
http://manypossibilities.net
http://villagetelco.org
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