Flawed Transparency:

Shared Data Collection and

Disclosure Challenges for

Google Glass and Similar

Technologies

Jonathan I. Ezor

Assistant Professor & Director,

Touro Law Center for Innovation in Business, Law & Technology

jezor@tourolaw.edu

2013 CEWIT Conference

October 22, 2013

Paper Available:

http://ezor.org/cewitpaper

jezor@tourolaw.edu

Privacy and

Technology

• Technology frequently connected with privacy

issues

• Construction, finance, transportation

• Brandeis & Warren’s “The Right to Privacy”

• Anonymity & pseudonymity

• Digital storage/transmission a major shift

jezor@tourolaw.edu

Privacy Protected by

Law and Practice

• Privacy protected by both law and practice

• Focus primarily on personal information and

behavior monitoring

• Different cultures have different structures

• Technology can both infringe on and protect

privacy

jezor@tourolaw.edu

U.S. Primarily Self-

Regulatory Regime

• In U.S., no general data privacy laws

• Most situations covered by “self-regulation”

• Only statute/regulation for special circumstances

– COPPA

– HIPAA

– GLB

– Others

• Self-regulation driven by disclosure

jezor@tourolaw.edu

Fair Information

Practice Principles

• Statements of best practices and ideals in data

collection and use

• Multiple versions throughout world

• FTC 1998 version:

– Notice/Awareness

– Choice/Consent

– Access/Participation

– Integrity/Security

– Enforcement/Redress

• Standard method is “privacy policy”

jezor@tourolaw.edu

Privacy Policy:

Statement of

Practices

• Statement of organization’s actual:

– Collection

– Use

– Sharing

• Should be prominently available

• CA law requires (PA law punishes knowing

inaccuracy)

• Federal law largely about misstatements or

omissions

• Data security practices also considered jezor@tourolaw.edu

Challenges of

Privacy Policies

• Accuracy

• Revisions

• Method of delivery

– Form factor

– Transaction process

– Multiple parties involved

• Newer technologies raise problems with privacy

policy methodology

jezor@tourolaw.edu

Google:

Multichannel,

Multiuse • Google in business of monetizing personal

information collection

• Broad range of businesses within Google sharing

data

• Collection goes far beyond Web sites

• Information collected goes far beyond personally

identifiable information

jezor@tourolaw.edu

Google Street View

and WiFi

• Google Street View cars photographing locations

around world

• Also detecting WiFi routers for location services

• Discovered to be intercepting traffic on open

networks

• Facing legal issues in U.S., elsewhere

jezor@tourolaw.edu

jezor@tourolaw.edu

Google Glass:

Wearable Sensor

Suite

• Google Glass new wearable device

• Discreet, wireless, and powerful

• WiFi-enabled

• GPS through paired device

• Cameras, microphone

• Apps and two-way wireless capabilities

jezor@tourolaw.edu

Privacy Concerns

with Glass

• Many concerned about “voyeurism” of Glass

• Broader question of Google collection/use of

information

• Glass’ form factor, ubiquity makes it different

from smartphones

• Little or no information available about Google

collection processes

• Even users cannot offer privacy policies for

Glass

jezor@tourolaw.edu

jezor@tourolaw.edu

Proposal: FCC

Approval Process

and Privacy

Disclosure

• Wireless devices already need FCC approval

• FCC separately regulates wireless carriers’

privacy practices

• Proposal: add privacy disclosure to FCC device

approval

• Would mandate public availability, accuracy,

updates

• Would provide better redress, easier

implementation jezor@tourolaw.edu

QUESTIONS?

Jonathan I. Ezor

Touro Law Center for Innovation in Business, Law

and Technology

jezor@tourolaw.edu

@ProfJonathan on Twitter

jezor@tourolaw.edu