White House Calls for Big Data Reforms to Protect Privacy

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By Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai2014-05-01 20:24:50 UTC

The White House released a report on Thursday that analyzes big data, laying down a series of policy recommendations to protect the privacy of Americans while utilizing large amounts of data made available by technology.

The main recommendations of the report, the result of a 90-day review led by White House counselor John Podesta, are to push for cybersecurity legislation, update a much-maligned email privacy law and extend privacy protections traditionally granted to Americans to the rest of the world.

See also: How One Woman Hid Her Pregnancy From Big Data

The report underlines how big data presents new challenges in terms of protecting our privacy.

"A significant finding of this report is that big data analytics have the potential to eclipse longstanding civil rights protections in how personal information is used," warns Podesta in the introduction of the report.

The first step to protect Internet users' privacy, the report says, is to develop a new consumer bill of rights to ensure companies don't discriminate consumers using data collected on them through online tracking.

Another recommendation is to urge Congress to pass a single, federal data breach, or cybersecurity, law.

Though legislators, it should be said, have been struggling to pass a national cybersecurity law for more than two years.

In 2012, the so-called Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, better known as CISPA, started making the rounds on Capitol Hill, but on the heels of the popular backlash against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the law quietly died. An attempt to resurrect it last year also failed, with the Obama administration threatening to veto it.

After the NSA revelations fueled by the top secret documents leaked by Edward Snowden, it's unclear how much leeway Congress has to pass a cybersecurity bill.

The report included the results of an online survey with the stated goal of grasping American's feelings towards big data. Nearly 25,000 people responded to the survey, which was posted on WhiteHouse.gov, demonstrating that Americans are wary of big data in our post-Snowden era.

Echoing one of the promises made by President Barack Obama in his Jan. 17 speech on the NSA reforms, the report endorses extending privacy protection beyond America's borders.

"Privacy is a worldwide value that the United States respects and which should be reflected in how it handles data regarding all persons," the report reads.

It also recommends another legislative reform: updating the 1986 Electronic Communications and Privacy Act (ECPA), the much-maligned and outdated law governing email privacy.

Currently, ECPA allows law enforcement agents, without a warrant, to obtain the content of your emails if they are unopened or older than six months, creating a loophole that leaves certain emails with less protection than traditional mail, something the report defines as an "archaic distinction."

Online and offline communications should be treated the same, according to the report, which is why ECPA so badly needs an update. But here's the bad news: this has been tried before.

Congress has been unable to pass ECPA reform for years, despite numerous attempts.

Despite the potential for legislative setbacks, privacy and digital rights advocates alike praised the report's focus — specifically the call to reform ECPA.

"Everyone who cares about their privacy should be glad that the president’s review group recommends updating ECPA to protect Americans’ communications," said Christopher Calabrese, the legislative counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

"The government should have to get a warrant to access our email and other personal information stored digitally," said Nuala O’Connor, the president of the Center for Democracy and Technology in a statement. "Congress should act now to pass ECPA reform legislation without any loopholes."

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Topics: big data, Politics, privacy, U.S., US & World, White House