Information and Service Design Lecture Series: I hope you know this will go down on your permanent record September 18, 2007

Speaker: Chris Jay Hoofnagle, Senior Staff Attorney at the Samuelson Law, Technology & Public Policy Clinic

Innovators in information services are creating fun and useful products, but in doing so, they often employ data for new and unforeseen uses, sometimes with dramatic effects for personal privacy. Increased access to information combined with aggregation and analytics tools may out individuals who thought they were anonymous, making an ill-considered comment on a blog or a photo from a party part of one's permanent record. Some commentators have argued that increased access and aggregation will create more transparency, and perhaps tolerance for mistakes; others warn of a scarlet-letter society where individuals are less free to express themselves for fear of future consequences, or for fear of stalking or unwanted attention. Federal, state, and private-sector approaches are underway to address unwanted consequences of access and aggregation, but technology seems to always outpace their efforts. Can information services be designed to avoid the creation of a permanent record, or will law intervene to protect individuals from their own digital droppings?

Official Website: http://dret.net/lectures/isd-fall07/