Attending to Information Privacy

Whether you purchase through the internet or via credit in physical stores, your purchases are recorded. While it may be convenient that we are advertised to for products we are likely to buy, it may also make us uncomfortable that industry knows everything about us. It is worth reiterating Edward Snowden’s statement from his CITIZENFOUR trailer: “…for now know that every border you cross, every purchase you make, every call you dial, every cell phone tower you pass, friend you keep, site you visit, and subject line you type, is in the hands of a system whose reach is unlimited but whose safeguards are not.” Privacy is concerned with inappropriate effects of authorized processing. Elements of privacy planning include a thorough data inventory, a privacy impact analysis, and communication with clients of how their data is collected, used, distributed and how it can be obtained and corrected.