From: PBS Newshour
Technologies that track data can make life more efficient, but can they go too far? Jeffrey Brown talks to technology and privacy experts Jules Polonetsky and Adam Thierer for more on why corporations should avoid being “creepy” and why it’s important to empower consumers to hold companies and developers to strict standards.
JEFFREY BROWN: So how do we weigh the appeal of these devices against their potential to intrude into our lives?
We’re joined by Jules Polonetsky, executive director of the Future of Privacy Forum, a think tank that promotes responsible data practices, and Adam Thierer, senior research fellow with the Mercatus Center at George Mason University.
Welcome to both of you.
Mr. Polonetsky, let me start with you.
In a car, on a person, in your home, do you think people understand how much of our lives are being collected? What else do we not know?
JULES POLONETSKY, Future of Privacy Forum: Clearly, most of us are excited about the latest feature.
We’re excited about the idea that cars could be safer if they’re aware of other cars on the road. We like the idea of having more power over our home environment and being able to automatically save money. But, clearly, every one of these new devices is powered by data. And it’s fair for us to scrutinize and hold the companies to a real strict standard.
As you collect our data to try to serve us better, how do we make sure that what you’re doing is for us and not something that is going to leave us discriminated against or narrowed in?
JEFFREY BROWN: All right, Adam Thierer, how do you think about all this information? Because, clearly, it has benefits for the people who perceive the benefits, but …
ADAM THIERER, George Mason University: Well, big data is the fuel that powers the information economy.
All of the wonderful sites and services and content that we enjoy today, much of it free of charge, is powered by data that’s collected, often to better advertise, but sometimes just to better tailor services to it.
The classic example would be Amazon’s ability to tailor what we might like based on past searches, or our wireless technologies in our phones, which enable various types of mapping services or traffic services to better give us a feel for what’s happening out there in the world. These are services or conveniences that we now take for granted, but that are only possible because data is collected.
Of course, it could be true that some of that data can be misused and that some consumers might not be aware of how it used, and we need to do a better job of educating them about this.
JEFFREY BROWN: Well, so where do they go too far? What worries you in the night?
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