Privacy Harms

What privacy concerns? What don't we want to occur? What do we want to solve via DNT?

0.       Entity that does not have a relation with me having a copy of my online reading/browsing history when there is not a user-requested functionality associated with the activity (such as credit card processing).  May split those two items into separate bucket.

a.       Reading history (library concern)

b.      Online activities (purchases, browsing)

1.       Third party access to financial transactions

2.       Government access to information

a.       Government access to reading list

3.       Things we build in non-authoritarian places become misused by authoritarian regimes; need to have consideration of different regimes

4.       Records of reading habits/online habits become available to adverse parties in litigation

5.       Competitors monitoring other competitor's employees for insider trading purposes

6.       People having facts inadvertently revealed to friends and family (e.g., shared browser scenario)

7.       Intrusive or sensitive information (e.g., Target and pregnant teenager)

8.       Minimize infrastructure of surveillance for democratic purposes;

a.       information accumulated in order to exercise influence over citizens

b.      Hackers and foreign governments get access to information in concentrated form

9.        Using that information to target you for financial or health or political purposes without your choice

a.       Differential mortgage rates

b.      But geo-location by itself to deliver political ad is OK

c.       Remessaging from RNC; OK within same visit to RNC.com

d.      Minimize amount of available info, so limit opportunities

10.   Data can be used for discriminatory purposes (e.g., race/income/etc.)

a.       Historical redlining by banks

b.      Dynamic biased pricing

11.   Lack of transparency and accountability as to how decisions are made

12.   Demonstrate value of personal data

13.   Inaccurate inferred information being created

14.   Avoid loss of online services quality - better ads

15.   Loss of free or low-priced online content


Amy Colando
Microsoft Corporation
Office: 425.703.6329
Mobile: 206.658.7704