Communications of the ACM
Feds Grapple With Big Data vs. Privacy
White House counselor John Podesta is examining the intersection of big data and privacy through a series of workshops that will feed into a study by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
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White House counselor John Podesta is leading a 90-day study examining the intersection of big data and privacy. The study will include a series of workshops hosted by the U.S. Office of Science and Technology Policy that will feed into a study being conducted by the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).
"The study is fundamentally a scoping exercise," says Podesta, who was speaking at a workshop on Monday organized by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "We want to examine the administration's consumer privacy blueprint and take a harder look at existing policies."
The study is part of a comprehensive review of big data and privacy President Barack Obama launched in January. The workshops will focus on the collection, analysis, and use of big data for privacy, the economy, and public policy. The results will be used to identify future technological trends and to determine whether further government intervention is required.
Big data is about "creating new business models, innovation, and improvements in efficiency--from education to healthcare," Podesta says.
Meanwhile, PCAST says it will continue to collect data from businesses, academia, and the public to promote the free flow of information in a way that does not threaten privacy and security.
From InformationWeek
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