Roxana Geambasu: "Privacy in a Data-Driven World"
Date and Time
Location
Speaker: Roxana Geambasu, Columbia University
Title: "Privacy in a Data-Driven World"
Abstract:
The concept of personal privacy as a precious and fragile commodity worthy of protection has come under siege in today's data-driven world.Users are eager to share their data online, and mobile applications and web services aggressively collect and monetize that information. This talk describes our vision for a new, privacy-preserving world; in it,users are more aware of the privacy implications of their online actions,and systems and applications are designed from the ground up with privacy in mind. In support of this vision, we describe our research agendato develop new transparency tools that increase society's oversight over how personal data is being used by applications, and programming tools that facilitate the construction of privacy-mindful applications. We provide two examples of such tools and abstractions. First, we describe Sunlight,a new web transparency tool that helps privacy watchdogs track how web services use individuals' personal data to target ads, personalize content,or adjust prices. Second, we describe Fair Test, a new testing toolkit that helps programmers test for unfair or discriminatory effects within their data-driven applications. Overall, our tools and abstractions aim to increase privacy by promoting a more responsible, fair, and accountable approach to user data management.
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