The Obama Administration recently announced voluntary guidelines for companies to protect consumer information online. The “Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights” would not alter existing laws, but the 50-page blueprint would extend privacy protections to unregulated sectors and would preempt conflicting state laws. The Administration’s framework includes a recommendation for federal legislation and Federal Trade Commission enforcement. It also recommends a national standard for security breach notifications. Read further >

Data is quickly becoming one of the health industry’s most treasured commodities. New data assets, care approaches, and payment models are on the horizon, generating an explosion of information collection, exchange, and use in the industry. The health care industry is grappling with multiple issues surrounding privacy and security in this increasingly digital world that is characterized as a “data-sharing playground [with] a minefield of concerns.” Read further >

Contrary to some predictions, the world didn’t end last weekend. But have no fear; Apple and Google were tracking your location/destination anyway.

Apple and Google are helping intensify an already intense digital privacy debate with recent revelations that both companies’ mobile software track users’ movements in detail without affirmative consent.

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“Personal data is the new oil of the Internet and the new currency of the digital
world.” Meglena Kuneva, European Consumer Commissioner, March 2009

As we move towards a “Web of the world” in which mobile communications, social technologies and online connections are bringing people together into one interconnected network, personal data may soon emerge as “a new asset class,” according to a fascinating report recently released by Bain & Company, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum (WEF PersonalDataNewAsset_Report PDF).

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In this digital environment, most of us recognize that data is a valuable asset. The U.S. government is starting to realize that too. For years, the government has been data-rich, but not information-rich. Sitting on a gold mine of data now, efforts are being made to convert the ever-growing data mountain into actionable intelligence. Read further >