Understanding how we construct and manage our online reputations is crucial in our understanding of how people determine what to make public and what to keep private in online environments. The interview below, with Firefox's Creative Director Aza Raskin, has some interesting observations on what the construction of identity and memories could look like in the future. Also, around 4:35, he talks about the work Mozilla has been doing to create a set of privacy icons in the style of Creative Commons licences to help people understand how their data is being collected and used.
In a move to monitor inventory in its stores, Wal-Mart will launch an item-level Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) inventory tracking program starting August 1st, 2010. In its first phase, the system will track individual pairs of jeans, socks and underwear. The items will be tagged with removable RFID tags that can be read from a distance using hand-held scanners so employees will know what sizes are missing from shelves and what is in the stock room, all in a matter of seconds. If the program is successful, it will be rolled out at Wal-Mart’s more than 3750 U.S. stores with more products.
On June 21, 2010, The Office of the Privacy Commissioner hosted its third Consumer Privacy Consultation event of the year. Located in Calgary, this consultation event focused primarily on the privacy implications of cloud computing. Featuring a wide variety of industry experts and engaging panelists, the event was highly successful.
Do you know how your location information is used? A recent survey commissioned by security company, Webroot, asked 1,645 social network users in the U.S. and UK who own location-enabled mobile devices about their use of location-based tools and services. The survey found that 39 percent of respondents reported using geo-location on their mobile devices and more than half (55 percent) of those users are worried about their loss of privacy.
In case you missed it, we are embarking on a collaborative redesign of youthprivacy.ca. We are inviting input from people both within government and external to government, and the first meeting is fast approaching. Our first meeting will focus on the content of the website, discussing what should appear on youthprivacy.ca, asking questions about how the website can best serve the public through tailoring its content, and doing some preliminary brainstorming regarding how this content should be presented.
A few dedicated OPC staffers spend much of their time visiting schools and talking to young people about why privacy is important. If you believe a popular line of thinking, privacy may seem to be a lost cause in the age of online social networking and “anything goes” disclosure. We who talk to youth on a regular basis, however, are always pleasantly surprised that a generation that is growing up online shows such interest and enthusiasm about protecting their information. It’s nice when research findings reflect our day-to-day observations that many young people are in fact proactive about protecting their online privacy.
Over the course of the year, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada is hosting consultations with Canadians on issues that pose a serious challenge to privacy. In an attempt to learn more about the privacy implications of new industries, the focus of the consultations has been on online tracking, profiling and targeting of consumers, and the increasing prevalence of cloud computing.
