ENTRIES TAGGED "personal data"
Should the Freedom of Information Act extend to data in private companies?
Rep. Issa expressed support for reforming FOIA to include personal data held by companies.
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which gives the people and press the right to access information from government, is one of the pillars of open government in the modern age. In the United States, FOIA is relatively new — it was originally enacted on July 4, 1966. As other countries around the world enshrine the principle into their legal systems, new questions about FOIA are arising, particularly when private industry takes on services that previously were delivered by government.
In that context, one of the federal open government initiatives worth watching in 2012 is ‘smart disclosure,’ the targeted release of information about citizens or about services they consume by government and by private industry. Smart disclosure is notable because there’s some “there there.” It’s not just a matter of it being one of the “flagship open government initiatives” under the U.S. National Plan for open government or that a White House Smart Disclosure Summit in March featured a standing room only audience at the National Archives. When compared to other initiatives, there has been relatively strong uptake of data from government and the private sector and its use in the consumer finance sector. Citizens can download their bank records and use them to make different decisions.
Earlier this summer, I interviewed Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) about a number of issues related to open government, including what he thought of “smart disclosure” initiatives.
Strata Week: Infographics for all
A new infographic tool, San Francisco upgrades its open data efforts, and decades of Stephen Wolfram's data.
Visual.ly launches an infographic creation tool, San Francisco upgrades its open data initiative, and Stephen Wolfram offers a peek into more than 20 years of his personal data.
Strata Week: Your personal automated data scientist
Wolfram releases a pro tool, protecting data during times of need, and new doubts about dating services.
Wolfram|Alpha launches a pro version of its computational knowledge engine, guidelines emerge for protecting the data of people in crisis, and researchers cast doubt on dating sites' matchmaking algorithms.
The rise of programmable self
Quantifying your changes + motivational hacks = programmable self.
Taking a cue from the Quantified Self movement, the programmable self is the combination of a digital motivation hack with a digital system that tracks behavior. Here's a look at companies and projects relevant to the programmable self space.
Visualization of the Week: AntiMap
A mobile mapping app lets users capture and visualize their movements.
The DIY mapping tool AntiMap lets users capture their movements via their mobile devices, then visualize and analyze their movements.
Strata Week: The fears of face recognition
Fears over Facebook's face recognition, hacked passwords get analyzed, and a video game taps historical data.
Stories this week examine some of the fears — real and imagined — around our social data, our privacy and security. But in case we forget the great things social data can build, we also look at the archival data behind the video game “L.A. Noire.”
Mobile apps and the quiet handling of data
There's considerable difference in how PC software and mobile apps handle data.
PC-based applications often have to get clearance from users before they can gather and transmit data. Mobile apps, however, follow a different path.
Data News: Week in Review
Personal genomics, education data, and a new version of Hadoop
In the latest Data News: 23andMe offers discounted personal genetics testing, DonorsChoose.org opens its dataset for a hacking education contest, and Cloudera releases Version 3.0 of its Hadoop distribution.
Personal data is the future, but does anybody care?
How to communicate the value of data to people who don't live and breathe it.
Companies that want to move personal data collection into the mainstream must offer utility, serendipity, and self-expression. You either have to be great at one or address all three.
The Locker Project: data for the people
The combined efforts of the Locker Project and TeleHash could help people be at the center of their data. Plus: Bloom presents Fizz, a new data app.
Three data efforts — the open source Locker Project, the TeleHash protocol, and commercial support from Singly — look to help people get more value from their personal data.
