By Dr. Ann Cavoukian
I am a great lover of quotes. The thirteenth century Persian poet Jalal-e-din Mohammad Rumi once beautifully wrote that it is necessary to “speak a new language so that the world will be a new world.†If our present era is characterized as the information age, the world of is a new world in which we find ourselves, and algorithms are the language of this new era.
- Ann Cavoukian, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario
Existing algorithmic tools are already struggling to manage and make sense of our unprecedented ability to capture and store data, which comes from many diverse sources, including data that organizations control as well as data over which they have no control (externally generated and less structured social media).
In response to these new conditions, new approaches in designed to harness big data have emerged. Organizations of all sizes are now able to better leverage their trapped information assets – driven by their deep interest to maximize their resources and better compete in the marketplace, resulting in more efficient operations, better customer experiences, and less fraud, waste and abuse.
Big data and privacy must co-exist
If big data is to realize its potential without eroding cherished privacy rights and civil liberties, organizations will also face new challenges. However, need not be at odds with one another. You can and must have both.
One of the true visionaries leading the effort to make sense of big data is Jeff Jonas, chief scientist of the IBM Entity Analytic Solutions group, and an IBM Fellow. In both these capacities, he is responsible for shaping the technical strategy of next generation entity analytics and the use of these new capabilities in IBM’s overall technical strategy.
Recently, I partnered with Jeff on a new joint paper entitled, , that discusses the transformative nature of big data, sensemaking systems and (PbD). This paper outlines a privacy “sensemaking†framework for big data, developed by Jeff, that takes into account a new class of analytic capability, in which new transactions (observations) can be integrated with previous transactions – much in the same way that one takes a jigsaw puzzle and locates its companion pieces on the table – and uses this “context-accumulating†process to improve understanding about what is happening in the here and now.
Jeff recently posted applauding sensemaking technology, which he says has more privacy protective features than any technology ever created by himself and his team, and perhaps more baked-in privacy and civil liberties enhancing features of any advanced analytic software ever engineered. He adds, “I would love to be wrong about this – starting a fierce competition over ‘I have more privacy features than you,’ is going to be a good thing for the planet Earth.â€
Privacy as a matter of business, not just compliance
This reinforces that as a technologist, Jeff really ‘gets it.’ He understands how technology can, and should, incorporate a number of principles, by
default – demonstrating that it is possible to advance privacy while simultaneously
preserving functionality in a doubly-enabling win-win, or positive-sum paradigm. This work serves as a prime example that consumer privacy is not simply a compliance issue, but in fact, a business imperative. Responsible innovation practices such as these are critical in order to ensure that the new world we are now creating is
one where privacy and civil liberties will continue to prevail.
PbD prescribes that privacy be built directly into the design and operation, not
only of technology, but also of how a system is operationalized (e.g., work processes,
management structures, physical spaces and networked infrastructure). Today, PbD
is widely recognized internationally as the standard for developing privacy-compliant
information systems. As a framework for effective privacy protection, PbD’s focus is more about encouraging organizations to both drive and demonstrate their commitment to privacy, than meeting some strict technical definition of compliance.
Our new age of big data, and the dynamic pace of technological innovation requires
us to engage privacy in a proactive manner in order to better safeguard this essential freedom within our societies.
Responsible innovation
In order to achieve this goal, system designers should be encouraged to practice responsible innovation in the field of advanced analytics. We envision a future where technologists will increasingly be called upon to bake more privacy enhancing technology – from conception to output — directly into their products and services.
With this in mind, we strongly encourage those designing and building next generation data analytics to carry out their work, building on the solid foundation of Privacy by Design.
Lawful access examples abroad a horror story of spending, abuse and minor benefits 
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Microsoft’s Surface Tablet – I Believe!
Microsoft’s Surface tablet – I believe!
I have been thinking about what I would say about on June 18th that they will be releasing not one but two tablets into the marketplace sometime before the end of the year. I was on vacation when the announcement was made but I did fire up my  to see what all the fuss was about.
- Rob Whent, enterpreneur in residence, WEtech Alliance
Yes, I’m a PC guy. Have been since 1995 when I replaced all the cute in my office with Gateway PCs and productivity (and sales) soared, even over the cries of protest from the creative group that Photoshop on a PC will suck (it did not). Now I’m not really one to get all emotional about computing devices, although I have been known to wait in line for the next cool gadget, and I was the first kid on my block to grab the original iPad way back in 2010 and immediately loved the design.
I was also the first kid on the block to get the first tablet and . Luckily Staples was sold out of the HP TouchPad and by the time I went back, HP had already pulled it from the marketplace! There were two big drawbacks I found with the iPad – lack of a tactile keyboard (yes I still like using actual keys) and the draconian-style insistence of using iTunes for everything, which I dislike with a passion.
PC people in general hate iTunes and it makes the iPad feel like a big iPod (and essentially it IS a big iPhone without the phone). It’s not a device for business, in my humble opinion, much like most of Apple’s products – it’s a consumer home product that can run games and apps that try and emulate what we do on our work computers.
So a year and a half ago I sat in bed surfing the web on my iPad, trying to respond to emails, Â patiently waiting for the PlayBook to be released. Boy was I let down (along with millions of others and most RIM executives). What an EPIC fail. And I really tried to like it and use it. But it was not to be. I then turned to Android and bought the innovative ASUS Transformer tablet with removable hard case keyboard that included extra storage and battery life. Perfect. Well, not so much. The problem? Â It still runs apps like my phone, not applications like my Ultrabook PC.
So what does the “perfect Tablet†look like for me? It should be obvious by now that I like having the option of a tactile keyboard – but not all the time, like reading in bed, for example. Apps are fun, but I really want to be able to work with this device – who wants to create a PowerPoint presentation on an Android tablet? Not me. So it needs to run the same software as my workstation (which is how I now refer to the old ball and chain – my dual-monitor HP Pavilion desktop PC). It needs to be able to easily install applications from anywhere I choose, and I want easy connectivity too. USB ports, external monitors, high-def video, SD card storage and an optical device, these are all things promised by the new “Surface†tablet promised by Microsoft (at this point it’s all speculation until they actually let us try one).
But why would we not believe Microsoft? I bought my “perfect tablet†way back in 2006 – four years before the iPad was announced. It was a running Windows XP Tablet Edition and it did everything I mentioned above except that the screen swiveled 180 degrees and snapped on to the front of the keyboard. Awesome!  But it was heavy by today’s standards (now remedied by lighter components and circuit design) and it ran a modified version of Windows XP that wasn’t very finger-friendly. It was a tablet before its time. Shortly after the release by Gateway, other manufacturers jumped on the bandwagon but all were faced with the same two critical drawbacks – weight and user interface design. Four years and billions of dollars later, Steve Jobs released a better mousetrap. To most of the world, this was heralded as groundbreaking and visionary, but to the handful of us XP Tablet Edition users it seemed like Jobs and his team took our XP tablets and simply made them cooler and thinner, but not nearly as powerful as our laptops.
So, only two years after the original iPad is released (which seems like a lifetime ago but it was 24 months folks), Microsoft listens to its huge user base and with a slew of lighter components and faster processors, updates its Windows OS to natively include touch input devices and decides to build its own tablet so people can stop playing Angry Birds and get busy working on that big PowerPoint presentation the boss needs in the morning. Let’s all remember that Windows is still the dominant operating system present in almost 75 per cent of all devices and will be for some time. While I have been disappointed by various PC products over the years, the time has come to get back to work.
Rob Whent (rwhent@Think-2-Learn) is the President and CEO of OTEP Inc. and is the Entrepreneur in Residence at WEtech Alliance in Windsor, Ontario. OTEP () is developing adaptive video game technology to identify and improve cognitive abilities in children with learning disabilities under the Think2Learn brand (). Follow him on Twitter @swento
Obama and Canadian Internet privacy rules share common weakness
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