The Privacy Debate
Recently, the privacy world celebrated Data Privacy Week. It gave me pause to review the concept of personal privacy.
2018 was the stage year for personal privacy. The European Unions GDPR, adopted in May, officially set the pace for the protection of personal data and real legal repercussions for violations. It is estimated that 90% of the worlds’ data has been created in the last few years. This process is accelerating as personal data gets collected with new “helpful” technologies every day. Big Data and big money. Exponential growth in the industry and The Internet of Things (IoT) where our devices communicate and share our information without our own interaction is our present and immediate future.
IBM, Qualcom, Microsoft and Hitachi are a few of the giants in the field. However, a recent study shows that from as early as 2017 over 50% of IoT solutions originated in start-ups that were less than 3 years old and, many of the established companies are providing the support and platforms for these start-ups to encourage new innovation.
IBM’s is directing considerable investments in “Watson” its IoT platform that uses natural language processing and machine learning to further develop cognitive computing technologies. Microsoft with its “Connected Vehicle Platform” built on the Azure cloud platform is designed to support the transport manufacturing industry in creating more customized and personal experiences. And, if there is a connection to the internet, you can be sure that Cisco is involved. These are just the top layer of the IoT cake with hundreds of start-ups kicking in the batter. We are living in super connected world and the cusp of the “Age of A.I.”
Without question, cognitive computing is a hot topic wherever you go. The conversations are in CEO boardrooms, financial institutions, tech firms and governments. Cognitive computing systems mine, grow and thrive on structured and unstructured data learning to mimic the human brain and improve decision making processes.
Where does this leave us with our personal privacy issues? In the EU, the Legal Affairs Committee called for new regulations, ethical conduct codes and guidance for robotic systems which includes cognitive computing. The privacy sector was already onboard in 2016 with the formation of the “Partnership on Artificial Intelligence”. Designed to address security, privacy and ethical challenges in the sector, the group funds research for establishing best practices in dealing with the ongoing complexities involved in the industry.
Business and other applications such as medical research take advantage of machine learning to collect data and define patterns for use. Mobile sales apps can collect private information such as locations, emails or IP addresses. Many companies offer third party devices such as Fitbit to incentivize their employees insurance programs and in doing so, collect and share sensitive and private health data.
Currently, solutions such as “masking” data, encryption, anonymization and differential privacy are primary Privacy by Design foundations for many companies. Still, data equals or, IS cash in our modern world. Facebook, Google and Amazon are multi-billion dollar global corporations that have developed their corporate business models on personal data collection. Governments around the world are rushing to create laws for personal privacy protection and regulation. But, we are human and governments are slow.
As machine learning continues to develop predictive responses and independent decision making, who or what, is the moral compass of A.I. and will privacy itself become an artificial process?