The Future of Privacy Forum (FPF) released a new journal, Privacy Papers for Policy Makers, this week, and four of the six articles in the inaugural issue have an I School connection.
The journal highlights leading privacy writings targeted at policymakers on Capitol Hill and within federal agencies who are focusing on personal privacy protection. The writings cover a wide array of topics, including recommendations for regulatory reform, how privacy protection must adapt to user perceptions, and how to design privacy policies for the Web.
The journal includes the article “Privacy on the Books and on the Ground” by School of Information assistant professor Deirdre Mulligan and law professor Kenneth A. Bamberger; the paper presents extensive new data about how corporations actually manage privacy in the real world — data which upends the terms of the prevailing policy debate and offers important insights for policymakers.
I School doctoral student Jennifer King is a co-author of the article “How Different are Young Adults from Older Adults When it Comes to Information Privacy Attitudes and Policies?”, which presents intrguing findings from a large survey of American Internet-users. This paper is the second in a series of three examining the gaps between privacy law and consumers’ perceptions of protections.
In addition, two articles are co-authored by I School alumnus Alessandro Acquisti: “What is Privacy Worth?” and “Misplaced Confidences: Privacy and the Control Paradox.” Acquisti received his Ph.D. from the School of Information in 2003 and is now on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University, where his research focuses on the behavioral economics of privacy and information security.
In addition to the six featured articles, the journal lists several “notable mentions”, including “Making Sense of Privacy and Publicity” by School of Information alumna danah boyd (Ph.D. 2008); the paper was delivered by boyd as the keynote address at the 2010 SXSW festival in Ausin, Texas.
The journal was released Wednesday at an event at the George Washington University Law School. The six papers featured in the journal were selected by the advisory board from more than sixty entries; the journal was sponsored by AT&T, LexisNexis, Microsoft, and Procter & Gamble.
FPF’s founder Christopher Wolf commented on the significance of Privacy Papers for Policy Makers: “Improving privacy protection is vitally important in this technology age so we are delighted to help build a bridge of communication between privacy scholars and privacy policy makers. We hope the journal will lead to greater communication and collaboration.”
