What Price Privacy in a Data-intensive World?

Much of the current dialogue about personal data is anchored in fear, uncertainty and doubt. There is a growing sense ‘big brother is watching’ and that individual rights are being ignored, along with important values such as transparency. Recurring themes in the literature are trust, respect, freedom, informed consent, self-determinism, control, ownership, sensitivity and the right ‘to be left alone’. Individuals are also recognising data is an asset as organisations reap the benefits of linking disparate data to understand our preferences, tendencies and buying patterns. The growing conversation around privacy is largely the result of the technological capability that produces and harnesses data and its subsequent potential. At the same time, opinions about privacy issues are highly contextual. This event intends to stimulate thinking and activity around how information professionals can help shape the conversation and approaches to data, privacy and ethics. How do we address these issues in our organisations? Are there broader responsibilities to ensure educated citizens? We wish to bring together researchers and educators within the iSchool community interested in discussing the challenges associated with tackling privacy issues in data-intensive organizational context, using a participatory format to stimulate reflection and dialogue. The event builds towards a collaborative discussion of next steps of interest with a view to sharing outcomes and insights via an online community network.