Privacy and Visibility in the Sensor Society

PICNIC 2008, Visible Amsterdammr. dr. Bart W. Schermer18 September 2008

schermer@considerati.com

About Considerati & eLaw Leiden

Public Affairs, Corporate Communication, Consultancy

Specialised in legal and public policy aspects of ICT and new media

www.considerati.com

eLaw@Leiden, centre for law in the information Society

Leiden University, faculty of law

http://www.law.leiden.edu/organisation/metajuridica/elaw/

Agenda

The Information Society

What is privacy?

Privacy and visibility in the Sensor Society

Conclusions

The Information Society

Yesterday machines could Do

Today machines can Think

Tomorrow machines can Sense

The day after tomorrow machines can Learn and Anticipate

Source: prof. Emile Aarts, Philips

The internet of things

The Visible City

7

What is privacy?

What is privacy?

The right to be let alone(Warren and Brandeis 1890)

The right to protection of the personal sphere(Blok 2002)

The right to be yourself

The right to determine what happens with your personal data(Westin 1967)

Et cetera, et cetera

What is privacy?

Goals:- shielding the private life- avoiding nuisance- protection of identities- maintaining personal autonomy- maintaining economic equality

Dimensions:- home- body- correspondence- information

Risks...

Balance of power

Social cohesion

Nuisance

Economic equality

Legal framework

Grondwet (articles 10 to 13 Gw)

Law enforcement- Police Act- Criminal procedure- Data Retention Act- Police Files Act

Private Sector- Data Protection Act (WBP)- Telecommunications Act

Conceived prior to the Sensor Age!!- Outdated definitions such as ‘personal data’ and ‘processor’- Outdated enforcement mechanisms

Solutions

What is at stake? -> Determine privacy context

Public sector- Privacy by design- Transparency (by design)- Checks and balances- Holistic approach (visible city)- Manage perceptions

Private Sector- Privacy by design- Transparency (by design)- Consumer in control- Provide benefits- Manage perceptions

Conclusions

Anonimity and invisibility are impossible in the sensor society

Privacy as a monolithic concept is heavily outdated

Legal framework has difficulty with the reality of a visible city

...however, we still have ‘the right to be let alone’

The answer to the machine is (for the most part) in the machine

Perception is as important as the law