Privacy Impact Assessments: Emerging Trends in Pursuit of the Silver Bullet

This project examines an existing and emerging problem space in consumer privacy risks and the methods used to assess and alleviate those risks, privacy impact assessments (PIA).

Privacy risks are inherent in every form of information exchange available that include Personally Identifiable Information (PII). At a very fundamental level, the attempt to address how those risks are assessed and dealt with is part of what the I School is all about.

The scope of the project is focused specifically on the PIA process and tools and their practical applicability. In addition, we will take the outcome of our research findings and apply it to an emerging consumer space with high risk privacy implications, such as consumer (DIY) drone technology, to determine the extent to which privacy risks can be impacted.

Expected deliverables include: a research paper that covers the entire project, analytical metrics comparing existing methodologies and tools; electronic checklists and/or data collection/organizational systems to capture PIA work; project plan; PIA report analyses, and recommendations for further research.