Privacy and Open Data Critique Discussion week 2 discusion Anthony In the cyber world we live in today knowledge is key. Having all of the data that you
Privacy and Open Data Critique Discussion week 2 discusion
Anthony
In the cyber world we live in today knowledge is key. Having all of the data that you could ever need to be accessed at the click of a button. The advancement of OPEN data is making this even more possible. Open Data is a global movement to improve the availability of information. Open Data is a tool that can be used to promote the transparency and accountability of governments and government agencies. With this new initiative to make information and information-based services readily available to the public, there are also cybersecurity risks. Today, I will inform you of some of the different types of OPEN data, the privacy issues that arise from the collection and distribution of OPEN data, and the ways we can safeguard information against these cybersecurity concerns.
There are several different types of open data that have potential uses and applications. Some of the following are infrastructural, public service and personal data. Infrastructural is usually noncontroversial data with information such as “about the state of the world,” such as data on weather measurements and transportation networks. Public service data concerns the activities of government, such as a city’s performance statistics and budgets. The last type of data is personally identifiable information (PII) such as health data, and it is generally the type of data most strongly protected (Parker, 2019).
I know this may not seem to be huge concerns, but they could cause serious danger to the information if miss used. There are many ways in which the privacy of individuals can be violated by open data initiatives. Open data shouldn’t, and generally doesn’t, include the personal information of an individual. However, if enough attributes about an individual are released, it is possible that their identity can be inferred. This can be accomplished by cross-referencing and connecting data between different databases and data sets (“Open Data and Privacy”, 2019). For example, open data can improve accountability but it can also increase liability. Tracking personally identifiable information can mean improved transparency, but also greater vulnerability. Another issues is the fact that there is already a lot of data being collected, but much of it is never used, and yet, the international development community keeps asking for more and more data. Finally, there was acknowledgment that the problem with data privacy and security is a new problem that is now part of our lives. No one has “figured it out” yet, anywhere and it is only going to get more complex, especially as individuals globally rely more and more on their digital identities for daily living (Green, 2019).
Even though there are many concerns with the implementation of OPEN data there are things that legislators should consider requiring of state agencies and others. One of the countermeasures would be providing notice to individuals. What this means is informing individuals that their information will be collected and used and open to the public. This seems simple, but sometimes simple notice will allow people to make their own choices to make their information public. Next, the classification of data is the first step in creating meaningful and responsible data sets for public use. Despite its strong connection with technology, data privacy is both a legal and a policy issue. Without proper stewardship of city-collected data, controversies may erupt as data in or extracted from cumbersome public records becomes more accessible and linkable in unexpected ways (Parker, 2019).
In conclusion, we have many more issues that come with this innovation, but we have established that there can be a productive dialogue between privacy and open data, and that more work is needed to explore how the two concepts together are unfolding in developed and developing world. Everything from paying monthly bills and subscriptions to dissecting a the federal budget is at our fingertips. As citizens of the public’s information, it is our job and responsibility to continue to ask questions about standards and ethical issues as well as privacy rights, so that we can provide transparency and promote accountability and also protect the privacy interests of our citizens.
Green, S. (2019). How to Balance the Tension Between Open Data and Privacy and Security?. Retrieved from http://www.sonjara.com/blog?article_id=153
Open Data and Privacy. (2019). Retrieved from https://citizens-guide-open-data.github.io/guide/4-od-and-privacy
Parker, B. (2019). The Challenges of Open Data and Privacy Issues – Western City Magazine. Retrieved from https://www.westerncity.com/article/challenges-open-data-and-privacy-issues
