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Privacy Identity Innovation Day 2

16 May 2012 By Leave a Comment
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Professor Weigend of Stanford is giving a talk on the nature of data and the next phase of the data revolution.

He states: ‘Communication is said to exist in order to transmit data.   Forget it.   Data exists to enable communication.”   “Business models of entire industries are changing due to social identity.’ “Non social businesses like Craigslist give way to social businesses like AirBnB and Astrid.”

The interesting thing about his talk is that he does not mention the individual except in passing.   He states that identity is changing to a social identity based only upon connections and relationships.   Andrew Keen (the author  wrote “The Cult of the Amateur”) asked if Dr. Weigend could address the internal life of people and how that was related to identity.  Dr. Weigend said a number of words in a sequence but did not answer the question, as Mr. Keen pointed out.  He then gave him a copy of the book, which is based upon discussions between the author and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman.

Dr. Weigend, a German raised in the former East Germany, displayed a copy of his Stasi birth record during his talk.   It seemed like something of a non-sequitor, given that the rest of the talk is about the evolving nature of society in the wake of technology.  Why would Dr. Weigend avoid answering what could have been a softball question?  There seems to be a reluctance among many internet theorists to embrace the concept of the individual, to define a concept of an individual participating or not in a social context, but rather a structure where social “connectivity” is assumed.  What could possibly be so unnerving to these theorists about the role of individuals in a social context?  Could it be that human society will wind up in a kind of Borg, where the individual identity and awareness will be routinely suppressed or ignored -  ala various 20th century dystopic science fiction novels?   Where does the individual go when identity is painted as purely reflective of technology-dominated social activity?

There are many instances throughout human history where various structures are created in order to generate social control of the ‘masses.”  In one sense, thank Heavens for some social structure.  But the West and it’s philosophy is predicated upon the notion of an individual consciousness, contributing and collaborating as makes sense for that individual.  Why the moves towards a dystopic kind of technology-driven social collectivism?   Why has the individual become suddenly so inconvenient?  -Kelly

PII 2012 Startup Snapshots

15 May 2012 By Leave a Comment

These folks are startup companies selected by PII to present.  They are:

Joanne Lang, CEO, About One.   “User’s Own their Own Data.”  @aboutone

Patrick Ambron, BrandYourself @brandyourself

Emily Marshall, CoupleFire, A private social network for couples.  Very interesting.   @couplefire

Rob Banagale, CEO, Glif @gl_ph.  A digital identity platform.  With secure VOIP, secure messaging, everything encrypted.   Interesting from a security perspective.

Robert Leschner, Safe Shepard, CEO @safeshepard.  “Batman for the user on the internet.”  “We help users opt out.”
They are scoring every website on the internet for privacy and using machine learning to comprehend their policies.

Christian Sigl, CTO, secure.me @securemehq.  Like Antivirus for personal data.   Doing analysis on personal data in social networks.  Reputation guard,

David Cho, CEO Sidebark. @sidebark, a secure social network where customers are the users.

Alisha Outridge, CEO, TapTank @taptank.  A life management tool that’s not super quant, but more about personal development from a goal-driven perspective.

 

 

 

PII Comment on IOS

14 May 2012 By Leave a Comment

It turns out that Apple IOS takes a screenshot everytime you press the button. There is one line in a 300 page document that suggests that it might be a security problem. b #privacybydesign

Privacy Identity Innovation

14 May 2012 By Leave a Comment

We are attending pii 2012 in Seattle. Watching Amber Case of Geoloqi talking about developing for privacy. She just said, “if you collect a lot of data about people, if you give it back to them, they can do a lot of interesting things.”

European Data Retention… Now in Austria

2 April 2012 By Leave a Comment

Yesterday, on April 1st 2012, the European Union’s “Directive 2006/24/EC” (also known as the “Data Retention Directive”) entered into force in Austria. Under this directive, telecommunication providers are obliged to store information about phone calls, text messages and Internet communication for a period of 6 to 24 months. This information does not include the actual content, but it includes detailed metadata such as phone numbers, IP addresses, e-mail addresses, time and location.

Proponents argue that in an increasingly connected world, the state’s ability to request access to such data is necessary for law enforcement and the fight against terrorism, and that sufficient safeguards are in place to prevent abuse. However, in the countries that have adopted the directive in the form of national laws, the powers it grants, the storage duration, and also the safeguards vary greatly. For example, depending on the concrete implementation, access to the data may or may not require that an individual is suspected of a severe crime, that a court has explicitly granted permission, and that the targeted individual has to be informed that such access has taken place.

Critics argue that the law establishes a surveillance system which places all citizens under general suspicion, and that therefore the freedom of civil society as a counterbalance to state power is no longer guaranteed. The amount and nature of the collected data is certainly sufficient to create a detailed profile about a person’s private life. In Europe, the last century has seen authoritarian regimes of various extreme ideologies that had founded their power to a large part on the surveillance of their citizens. As a consequence, the sensitivity today to intrusions into the private sphere is high. Besides such political considerations, the potential for commercial abuse also seems extensive, for example, a corrupt employee of an Internet service provider might be tempted to simply sell the highly valuable data.

Sometimes, to illustrate their point, critics draw a comparison with the postal service, where it would seem ridiculous to record the sender, recipient, time and location of every letter. Criticism has also increased in connection with the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), which is a treaty that among other things targets copyright infringement on the Internet. Also, the actual usefulness of the law for combatting crime is questionable, since there are still many ways of communicating privately.

The introduction of the law has sparked online petitions as well as street protests under the motto “Farewell Privacy” in Vienna and other cities, although they were smaller than anticipated. The Austrian instantiation of the Anonymous collective had announced a counter-surveillance campaign (“Operation Pitdog”), during which it would publish thousands of e-mails related to political corruption, which later however turned out to be a hoax. Several organizations, including the Austrian Green Party and a human rights institute, announced that they would challenge the new law at the Austrian Constitutional Court – a move that had already succeeded in several other countries. For example, courts in the Czech Republic, Germany and Romania have ruled the law to be in violation of peoples’ rights, including the rights to privacy, to confidentiality in communications, and to freedom of speech.

On the European level, there has been much discussion whether the Data Retention Directive is compatible with the union’s treaties, with the Charter of Fundamental Rights, and with traditionally strong data protection policies. Even among policy makers, there seems to be an increasing sense nowadays that the directive is characterized by low effectiveness and potential negative effects, and that it is therefore not proportionate and not in the best interest of society. In 2010, the question of legality of the directive was referred to the European Court of Justice, which is expected to decide on the matter during the course of this year.

The Data Retention Directive is basically Europe’s version of the global question about freedom vs. security on the Internet. In other words, how much control of a state over its citizens’ communication is healthy for a democratic society? This is a political and legal question that is not easily answered. What is certain however is that both the amount and the value of personal data will continue to increase. At PDEC, we believe that an ecosystem around this personal data should on one hand provide the tools and rights for individuals to control their own data, and on the other hand also enable new business models around this asset.

NSTIC Governance Workshop, March 15

7 March 2012 By Leave a Comment

Kaliya will be attending:

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Main Auditorium, U.S. Department of Commerce – Herbert C. Hoover Building, 1401 Constitution Avenue NW, Washington, DC

Since the creation of the Internet, there have always been difficult questions surrounding privacy, security and trust. How do we know with whom we are interacting? How do we know they are trustworthy? How do we balance the desires for anonymity and personal privacy with the need to secure our information and transactions? In an effort to address these questions, President Obama signed the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC or “Strategy”).

The U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will host a workshop with thought leaders from government and industry to discuss aspects of the Identity Ecosystem governance structure called for in the NSTIC.

This workshop will review and take questions on NIST’s February 2012 paper, Recommendations for Establishing an Identity Ecosystem Governance Structure, and on specific issues concerning the establishment of that governance structure.

 

 

Join us at ID Collaboration Day, Feb 27, 2012

5 February 2012 By Leave a Comment

Early Bird tickets for the day are $125 and on sale for the next week. After that, the price goes up.

It is at Bohemian Loft again this year, close to downtown, and a short subway or taxi ride away from Moscone.

We will begin at 9am (doors at 8:15 AM), and close by 5pm. We will start by creating the agenda for the day as we do at IIW, providing the opportunity to do a range of real work on key emerging topics and issues in real time.

We have had the event on the Calendar since last year’s very successful event, a collaboration between IIW/IDCommons and the Kantara Initiative. This year ,we add IDTrust into the mix of collaborating organizations/groups. We are excited about the opportunity that RSA brings with the wide range of security professionals that come to town.

You can see topics from past events on the IIW wiki: http://iiw.idcommons.net

Please let us know if you have any questions.
Register at http://idcollab2.eventbrite.com/

Contacts:

  • Kaliya, Phil and Doc – IIW/IDCommons
  • Joni and Dervla – Kantara Initiative
  • Dee and Jan – OASIS IDTrust

P.S. IIW 14 registration is open! Get registered now at Super Early Bird Rates

P.P.S Kaliya is traveling to Australia to speak at Digital Identity World Australia on March 20th and facilitating an IIW-like Unconference about Identity that they are hosting on March 19th.
People who are interested or people who have colleagues based in Australia who might be interested can contact Kal…@identitywoman.net or Stephen Wilson to get more information / specifics Stephen Wilson swil…@LOCKSTEP.COM.AU

Personal Data Journal: First Issue Complete!

13 January 2012 By Leave a Comment

Personal Data Journal  is the essential monthly guide written by and for personal data ecosystem pioneers. In each monthly issue, our experienced reporting team and respected guest contributors track, distill, and make sense of the 100+ emerging standards, rapidly growing number of listservs and companies, analyst reports, social media buzz, news, and insider talk.

The first issue of this monthly publication is complete.  You can learn more about it here and how to subscribe here.

Year End Reflections and Projections

1 January 2012 By Leave a Comment

I have been doing a lot of reflecting on what has unfolded this past year (See part 2 for below more complete details) and also thinking keystone strategy for the coming year. 

Personal Data Ecosystem Strategy for the coming year….

  • PDEC opening a 2012 “class” of startups and establishing a more regularized process for welcoming new ones. I would like to have 3-4 existing startups proactively involved in this process; if you would like to be a part of this please let me know.
  • Launching the Personal Data Journal publication to meet the needs of larger enterprises seeking to understand the key emerging technologies and business opportunities. I am keen to introduce you all to our editor Kelly and will be doing so in the coming week.
  • Offering a range of day long workshops for larger enterprises on User-centric Identity and Personal Data covering key ideas, open standards etc. The range is from 101 introductions and basics to a masterclass mini MBA in identity and personal data.
  • Growing relationships with the larger enterprises in the space.
  • Bringing a qualified community manager on board to help with both the Startup Circle and the Enterprise class of membership.
  • Revamping the website and improving our information sharing as a community.
  • Aligning membership structure with the growing industry.
  • Developing a governance model that retains the values and allows for large and small companies to participate and get key industry collaborative work done including development of industry norms and standards if called for.

Opportunities in the Coming Year…

  • A 2nd WEF report on Personal Data has a targeted release date for March 2012
  • SXSW  is happening.
  • Refinement of accountability and  “trust” frameworks for this industry.
  • Developing a relationship with Doc Searls’s Customer Commons organization.

Issued for transformation in the coming year….

  • Bootstraping new organizations into being is a challenge particularly with limited resources. Our capacity must increase so that no one person is a bottle neck.
  • Larger companies are seeking more information about the opportunities in personal data and we need to respond.
  • Having a better site. We inadvertently picked a WordPress website template that was particularly challenging to design without costing 1000’s of dollars we didn’t have.

 

PART2 – Looking Back

 Reflecting on the seeds….

The seeds of PDEC started almost 2 years ago with conversations initiated by Mydex with Drummond that then got connected to conversations with Phil Windley and his technology, Mike Schwartz’s Gluu, Azigo and their long term efforts. Key conversations about privacy, trust and the opportunity around data happened at the STL-convened Privacy 2.0 conference.

In April 2009 following the Kynetx Impact Conference I lead the convening of first face to face meeting of what was then going to be called PDX (personal data exchange) met. It startups (Paul Trevithick, Phil Windley and his Kynetx team, Joe Johnston, Drummond Reed), lawyers (Scott Blackmer, Rene Lloyd), Thinkers (Kaliya Hamlin, Marc Davis) and a large enterprise thinking about how a new ecosystem would and could work.

Since that time a lot has happened…. 

  •  Natalie Fonseca has convened together two Privacy Identity and Innovation conferences.
  • WEF published its report on personal data as an emerging asset class along with convening meetings continuing to move the ball forward
  • The White House published NSTIC The National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace, hosted two workshops invited PDEC to speak about the companies that are bringing forward market solutions to the problem.
  • WSJ has published an extensive series What They Know.
  • There have been three Internet Identity Workshops where personal data and the new emerging landscape have had their own special day.
  • Legal innovations have started to emerge and the ABA is having meetings about key identity and data definitions.

The Personal Data Ecosystem became formalized… 

  • Kaliya worked with Drummond originally in the founding of what was to be PDX before he chose to become involved with one startup in July.
  • Kaliya Hamlin and Phil Windley both wrote key principles for the ecosystem within a week of each other in August 2010.
  • With the encouragement of Marc Davis, Kaliya Hamlin continued to pursue founding PDEC taking the $20,000 she received from her fathers estate following his passing at the end of August 2010 to launch the website in time for STL’s October 2010 event a week before IIW 11.
  • PDEC chartered as an Identity Commons working group to gain access to community resources and get started working before being a totally incorporated.
  • We explored the possibilities for large companies to join the consortium but the market timing was too early and the value proposition/exchange was not strong enough.
  • Mary Hodder volunteered to help with the development of the organization and we successfully responded to the Federal Trade Commission and Commerce Department Notice of Inquiries. We also contributed to several W3C efforts touching in this space including DoNotTrack, and ID in the Browser and attended the TPAC.
  • Clay Shirky joined the board of PDEC at SXSW joining Phil Windley, Aldo Castanda, Mary Hodder and Tony Fish.
  • Kaliya worked to develop the vision and outline of the startup Circle and get the first class of members to join. We announced that program concurrent with the WEF meeting about personal data in Vienna in June.
  • The occupy movement emerged and the control of personal data was actually named as one of the issues the movement was drawn around.
  • Customer Commons grew out of the VRM list/movement and is creating the space for citizens/customers and Mary Hodder choose to transition out of serving on the board of PDEC to give her attention to this new organization.

Personal Data Journal – Launching in January

26 December 2011 By 2 Comments

PDEC is pleased to announce the launch of its premier publication The Personal Data Journal . It is the essential monthly guide written by and for personal data ecosystem pioneers. Our subscribers are the ground-breaking technologists, product development enterprises, data entrepreneurs, and policymakers who are shaping and leading this rapidly-evolving sector. In each monthly issue, our experienced reporting team and respected guest contributors track, distill, and make sense of the 100+ emerging standards, rapidly growing number of listservs and companies, analyst reports, social media buzz, news, and insider talk. Stay Apprised of this Emerging Territory A small group of technology visionaries has toiled in the shadows for years to illuminate and shape an important, emergent market niche: The personal data ecosystem. As disastrous privacy breaches become the norm, there’s growing pressure from many quarters to shift the locus of control over personal data from institutions to individuals. This profound change — like the revolutions initiated by automobiles, television, personal computers, and the web — promises to transform every aspect of our day-to-day lives, including how we buy and vote, how our children navigate in cyberspace, and how business and governments across the globe engage with people and their data. Get Access to the Most Credible Resource Available Without Overload Published by PDEC, the Personal Data Ecosystem Consortium, Personal Data is the comprehensive source for information in the emerging personal data services space, offering in-depth analysis and news no other publication does, or can. The provides invaluable leverage to those in the vanguard of developing and delivering solutions and services in the personal data ecosystem. The Internet Society (ISOC) is funding PDEC’s research on the industry practices and trends the will regularly examine and interpret. Each monthly issue boosts your sector intelligence with insightful, broad-based, and knowledgeable reporting. We do the legwork so you can focus on making the most profitable use of what we reveal in your sphere. Subscribe Now and Keep Your Edge 

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