Nowadays, a news story on privacy is out of place if it doesn't mention Do-Not-Track (known as "DNT") or Big Data. While these hot topics represent key concerns for privacy professionals, advocates and regulators, there is no clear agreement on what they mean or how to address the privacy issues they raise. In this post, we consider recent developments on these topics, including how the Federal Trade Commission has sought to focus on and connect these new issues.DNT or DNC DNT is in the midst of a multi-faceted identity crisis, starting with a disagreement over the definition of DNT. Self-regulatory organizations and the advertising industry assert that DNT stands for "Do Not Target," referring to the use of consumer data for the purposes of targeted advertising. The FTC, buoyed by privacy advocates, appears to take the view that DNT means not only "Do Not Target" but also "Do Not Collect" (DNC). FTC Commissioner Brill elaborated at the 2012 IAPP Summit that she doesn't view the current DNT efforts as entirely sufficient because the choice DNT offers does not give consumers appropriate protection against what Brill characterized as "limitless, unmitigated" data collection. But Brill does not argue for wholesale implementation of DNC, and has indicated that the details of the implementation of DNT/DNC will continue to remain a key focus for the FTC.
Institutions of higher learning are often breeding grounds for experimentation and creative approaches to old problems. Thus, it is far from surprising that universities have represented some of the earliest adopters of enterprise cloud computing solutions. Cloud computing is enormously attractive to universities, for a number of reasons, especially when it comes to email. My article, "The Ivory Tower in the Cloud," recently published in Information Security and Privacy News, a publication of the Information Security Committee, ABA Section of Science & Technology Law, briefly explores some of the information security and privacy legal implications for higher education moving into the cloud, and then discusses some recent developments with respect to highly publicized trials of cloud computing services by universities and colleges. You can read the full article here.