http://www.demos.co.uk/projects/privatelives/ en-us Copyright 2008 Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:55:41 -0100 Latest items from Private Lives? on http://www.demos.co.uk/ - the thinktank for everyday democracy Sat, 19 Jul 2008 07:55:41 -0100 http://www.demos.co.uk/items/10334 http://www.demos.co.uk/items/10334
Google's Peter Fleischer is talking about this today in a speech at a UNESCO conference on ethics and human rights in the information society. He's arguing that we should develop some global privacy standards that can help us manage in this complex international environment for personal information. Who should be responsible for it? Would countries retain the right to set their own standards? Where would accountabiltiy lie?

It's an interesting set of problems from the perspective of a an information handler with some compelling challenges on their hands. The speech will be part of our forthcoming collection of essays on privacy, to be published in early November.]]> Fri, 14 Sep 2007 14:51:33 -0100 peter.bradwell@demos.co.uk ( Pete Bradwell ) http://www.demos.co.uk/items/9956 http://www.demos.co.uk/items/9956 story about Oxford University using Facebook to find evidence from their students' photos of banned post-exam partying. It follows lots of stories about employers using information they find on social network sites to inform their recrutiment decisions, or monitor their staff.

One of Facebook's selling points is that users can set levels of privacy, limiting access to photos and the other snippets of information from their profiles to a specific group or groups.  Is it as unethical to actively try to transgress those boundaries on social networks, as it is looking at someone's email, or getting hold of a set of their printed photos?

Does the question of who sees what come down to ownership of your profile, as much as what you decide to put on it?]]> Tue, 17 Jul 2007 07:28:01 -0100 peter.bradwell@demos.co.uk ( Pete Bradwell ) http://www.demos.co.uk/items/9846 http://www.demos.co.uk/items/9846 event with Google next Thursday evening at their offices in Victoria.  We'll be talking about what's happening to privacy online.

Our director Catherine Fieschi will be chairing the discussion, with Peter Fleischer, Google's global privacy counsel, joined by a panel featuring William Dutton, Director of the Oxford Internet Institute and Bobbie Johnson, Guardian's technology correspondent.

We're pretty excited, as the event will touch on some really timely challenges and opportunities that we think are really important.  As we do more and more online, large amounts of information about us is created and captured.  Much of that underpins the spirit of coolaboration and openness of online life.

But are there limits to who sees that information and what they can do with it?  What are the implications of online life for the rich values that our sense of privacy embodies?

It should be a fascinating discussion and ties in closely with our ongoing work on privacy and the politics of personal information sharing.

The event is free but space is limited.  If you would like to attend please write to demos_fyi@demos.co.uk.]]> Fri, 29 Jun 2007 16:03:57 -0100 peter.bradwell@demos.co.uk ( Pete Bradwell ) http://www.demos.co.uk/items/9845 http://www.demos.co.uk/items/9845

• Peter Fleischer, Global Privacy Counsel for Google
• Catherine Fieschi, Director of Demos, Chair
• Bobbie Johnson, Deputy Editor, TechnologyGuardian
• William Dutton, Director, Oxford Internet Institute

July 5th 2007, 6pm – 8pm, Google offices, Victoria.

As the internet becomes more integrated into our everyday lives, the issue of privacy becomes ever more important. With the amount of information online increasing through ever expanding uses of technology, what is the right approach to protecting the privacy of users?  

In the context of Demos’ ongoing work on privacy and information sharing, this event will explore the implications of these developments for the privacy of the individual. It will ask what the opportunities and challenges are in an era where our online behaviour and relationships are more important than ever.
 
Peter Fleischer will be joined by an expert panel to assess the social and political implications of a changing privacy landscape, and map the new boundaries and relationships that constitute our privacy.

We do hope you can join us for what will be a thought-provoking and in-depth discussion.

The event is free but space is limited; if you would like to attend please write to demos_fyi@demos.co.uk, or call 0207 367 6331.]]> Fri, 29 Jun 2007 14:42:27 -0100 http://www.demos.co.uk/items/9732 http://www.demos.co.uk/items/9732 report from Privacy International - rankings of the major internet companies based on an assessment of their attitudes and practices with regard to their users privacy.

It gets its hands dirty at the point where the sharing of information online - and the promises we hear about collaboration and involvement - strike against the protection of information about us and our habits.  Great to see policy and practice laid out like this, whether you agree with the findings or not.  As they say when outlining why they undertook the study:

We felt that consumers want to know about these surveillance practices so that they can make a better-informed decision about how, whether and with whom they should share their personal information. We also believe that companies need to be more open about how they process information and why it is processed.

That really chimes with what we're trying to do with For Your Information - tell that accessible story and articulate the broad context within which these dramatic changes are taking place.

The report has caused a bit of stir - Google are named dead last, with the report suggesting that it has an apathetic attitude and lax approach to the sucurity and integrity of people's personal information.  The story is that Google responded by suggesting that Privacy International has a conflict of interest as one of its board works for Microsoft.  Director Simon Davies' response is here, and well worth a read!]]> Mon, 11 Jun 2007 19:04:54 -0100 peter.bradwell@demos.co.uk ( Pete Bradwell )