A call for papers:

This is the launching event of the Engaging Data Initiative. This initiative seeks to address the issues surrounding the application and management of personal electronic information by bringing together the main stakeholders from multiple disciplines, including social scientists, engineers, manufacturers, telecommunications service providers, Internet companies, credit companies and banks, privacy officers, lawyers, and watchdogs, and government officials.

The goal of this forum is to explore the novel applications for electronic data and address the risks, concerns, and consumer opinions associated with the use of this data.

The forum is seeking original contributions in the form of both position papers and technical papers. Of particular interest are papers that open new paths for research, express a creative vision for the future, and contribute to a lively debate.

Sandy Pentland, technical co-chair:

You have a right to possess your own data, that you control the data that is collected about you, and that you can destroy, remove or redeploy your data as you wish.

Decius:

Unless there is some detail that I'm missing, this sounds positively Orwellian.

Lee Gomes, for Forbes:

Some complainers are obsessed with anonymity and appear bothered by any data sharing at all, even when entirely voluntary. It's reminiscent of the Navajo belief that letting someone take your picture is letting them steal a piece of your soul.

This preoccupation with keeping data anonymous can lead to surreal outcomes.

RFIDs are a good case study of the peculiar public relations dynamics of privacy. But some privacy advocates tell dark tales of RFIDs being part of an Orwellian nightmare in which citizens, by simply walking down the street, reveal everything about themselves to a network of ubiquitous scanners.

In the name of privacy, there have been campaigns against the RFID tagging of pets in Texas, while some New Hampshire citizens have argued about whether tagging a body inhibits the soul's progress to heaven.

Is there a way out of the current, overly legalized approach to privacy, which seems to make no one happy?

Ross Anderson:

It is difficult to safely reveal limited information about a social network.