PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

The Tyranny of Algorithms

We live today increasingly under the tyranny of algorithms. They rule over us. They shape what we say and how we interact with each other. They shape behavior. They affect whether people get jobs and other essential things in life. And algorithms kill people. Algorithms work behind the curtains, cloaked in secrecy, often unaccountable. Algorithmic […]

Information Fiduciaries and Privacy

Information fiduciaries have emerged as a major part of the discussion of privacy regulation.  In a nutshell, the information fiduciaries approach aims to apply aspects of fiduciary law to the companies that collect and use our personal data. As one court explained the fiduciary relationship: “A fiduciary relationship is one founded on trust or confidence […]

Digital Dossiers and the Aggregation Effect

This year is the 20th anniversary of my first book, The Digital Person: Technology and Privacy In the Information Age (NYU Press 2004) (Amazon) (free digital copy on SSRN). I thought that it would be a great opportunity to engage in a reflection on some of the points I discussed in the book.  Apologies for […]

Bankruptcy Sale of DNA Data: From Toysmart to 23andMe

A recent article in The Atlantic discusses the risk of 23andMe selling its vast stockpile of DNA data on 15 million individuals: 23andMe is not doing well. Its stock is on the verge of being delisted. It shut down its in-house drug-development unit last month, only the latest in several rounds of layoffs. Last week, the entire […]