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Keynote – Ann Cavoukian – The Need for Big Privacy in a World of Surveillance and Big Data

Source: GPS by Design

Keynote – Ann Cavoukian – The Need for Big Privacy in a World of Surveillance and Big Data

More about SAI Conference at http://www.conference.thesai.org

The revelations of Edward Snowden regarding the NSA have created a firestorm of controversy, bringing into question our very right to privacy. The absence of transparency and accountability by government intelligence agencies makes these revelations all the more troubling. This has prompted companies such as Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter, Apple, AOL, LinkedIn and Yahoo to form a coalition called, Reform Government Surveillance, to demand that governments address the practices and laws regulating the government surveillance of law-abiding citizens. What is Canada doing? We also have the massive growth of Big Data to contend with – how will this impact our privacy? The positive-sum framework of Privacy by Design is ideally suited to address this issue since it enables the operation of multiple functionalities. But the response to Big Data will need to be equally “Big” in scope – so enter Big Privacy! Come hear Commissioner Cavoukian explain how Big Privacy could lead to a doubly-enabling, win-win proposition.

About the Speaker: Ann Cavoukian is the former Information and Privacy Commissioner for the Canadian province of Ontario serving from 1997 to 2014. Dr. Cavoukian is recognized as one of the world’s leading privacy experts. Her Privacy by Design framework seeks to proactively embed privacy into the design specifications of information technologies and business practices, thereby achieving the strongest protection possible. In October 2010, regulators at the conference of International Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Jerusalem unanimously passed a Resolution recognizing Privacy by Design as an essential component of fundamental privacy protection. This was followed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s inclusion of Privacy by Design as one of three recommended practices for protecting online privacy – a major validation of its significance.

In November 2011, Dr. Cavoukian was ranked as one of the top 25 Women of Influence, recognizing her contribution to the Canadian and global economy. In October 2013, she was named one of the top 100 City Innovators Worldwide by UBM Future Cities for her passionate advocacy of Privacy by Design. In December 2013, the Founding Partners of the Respect Network, the world’s first peer-to-peer network for personal and business clouds, named Dr. Cavoukian as its first Honorary Architect. She is now tackling Big Data, for which she says, “Big Privacy” is the answer.

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