The U.S. Senate and House hearings last week on Facebook’s use of data and foreign interference in the U.S. election raised important challenges concerning data privacy, security, ethics, transparency, and responsibility. They also illuminated what could become a vast chasm between traditional privacy and security laws and regulations and rapidly evolving internet-related business models and activities. To help close this gap, technologists need to seriously reevaluate their relationship with government. Here are four ways to start.
The U.S. Needs a New Paradigm for Data Governance
The U.S. Senate and House hearings last week on Facebook’s use of data and foreign interference in the U.S. election raised important challenges concerning data privacy, security, ethics, transparency, and responsibility. They also illuminated what could become a vast chasm between traditional privacy and security laws and regulations and rapidly evolving internet-related business models and activities. To help close this gap, technologists need to seriously reevaluate their relationship with government. Here are four ways to start: Help to increase tech literacy in Washington; create and enforce stronger policies for governing third parties’ use of data; invest in user-centered models for consent and terms of service; and include data ethics as a central component of any regulatory reform.