[od-discuss] introducing "Fair Data"

Fri Jan 23 23:03:17 UTC 2015

This sounds like a very important but extremely challenging goal.

Off the top of my head:

All data collection that is potentially personally identifiable should
be opt-in rather than opt-out, except where it is completely obvious
that the data is fundamental to a service.

As per Internet Archive policy, steps should be taken to anonymize data
preemptively (they anonymize IP address of visitors so they don't even
have access themselves to identifiable information about who is visiting
the site).

All privacy policy changes should be announced as proposals in advance
with a robust public comment period and never just changed without prior
announcement.

Check out https://tosdr.org/ for good guidelines and an existing
initiative about respectful policies…

There's lots lots more… Definitely try to get all the best ideas from
all the best sources. I'm happy to help, but this isn't my expertise
really. I would love to see such an initiative succeed if done right.

Cheers,
Aaron Wolf
Snowdrift.coop

On 01/23/2015 12:18 PM, Conor Gillies wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> Ryan Merkley at Creative Commons suggested I get in touch. I'm an
> outsider and a newcomer, so sorry if my message feels out of left field.
> 
> Basically, I'm a public radio producer working with some activists and
> thinkers around and beyond Cambridge, Mass. on a wide-scale graphic
> design project: "Fair Data."
> 
> We're taking a line from ACLU activist Chris Soghoian, who suggests in
> The Economist starting a “‘fair data’ movement, in the vein of ‘fair
> trade’ campaigns...to support transparent and ethical policies on
> datasharing, privacy and security” (“Little Brother,” September 13, 2014).
> 
> http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21615875-technology-has-transformed-advertising-consumers-need-be-kept-board-world
> 
> We'd work with leading internet not-for-profits—Internet Archive,
> Wikipedia, NPR, &c.—to display the icon on privacy info pages and footers.
> 
> The icon would represent a baseline, universal privacy policy: your
> personal data isn't being abused, surveilled, or sold for commercial gain.
> 
> Working with NPR's head graphic design person on the visual component.
> But we're deep in over our heads articulating the language. So as we
> begin to collect feedback, we're wondering:
> 
> 1) What is the most democratic way to write and maintain a basic "Fair
> Data" privacy policy? Where would it be located and edited?
> 
> 2) Talking with some folks at the Berkman Center, too. Who else should
> we reach out to about this? Are there similar projects out there to keep
> in mind?
> 
> It's an ambitious, loose plan at the moment but we think it could go a
> long way—so long as the language is plain, and the process of design and
> writing is open and democratic.
> 
> Happy to talk more, and can share a PDF sketch of the project as it stands. 
> 
> Yours thankfully,
> Conor
> 
> -- 
> Conor Gillies
> radioopensource.org <http://radioopensource.org>
> 
> 
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