Privacy as Contextual Integrity Helen Nissenbaum Department of

Privacy as Contextual Integrity Helen Nissenbaum Department of Culture & Communications, NYU http: //www. nyu. edu/projects/nissenbaum

Overview o o o o o What is privacy and why do we care about it (if we do)? Definitions Control versus Access Descriptive versus normative In search of a normative foundations for privacy “not a court of law but a court of conscience…” BUT … Conflicts, tradeoffs, balancing Principles -- e. g. sensitivity of information Problem: privacy in public (aggregation, data mining, etc. ) Solution: fight it out; interest politics; revert to dogmatism Look for guidance at societal level

What is Privacy? …. Definitions • Privacy is not simply an absence of information about us in the minds of others; rather it is the control we have over information about ourselves. --Charles Fried • Privacy is a limitation of others’ access to an individual through information, attention, or physical proximity. --Ruth Gavison • Privacy is the right to control information about and access to oneself. -- Priscilla Regan • Common Law Right to Privacy (as characterized by Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis, 1890): An individual’s right of determining, ordinarily, to what extent his thoughts, sentiments, and emotions shall be communicated to others. • "Privacy is the claim of individuals, groups, or institutions to determine for themselves when, how, and to what extend information about them is communicated to others. " (p. 7) • ". . . privacy is the voluntary and temporary withdrawal of a person from the general society through physical or psychological means, either in a state of solitude or small-group intimacy or, when among larger groups, in a condition of anonymity or reserve. " (p. 7) • Westin, Alan F. Privacy and Freedom. (New York: Atheneum, 1967)

Overview o o o o o What is privacy and why do we care about it (if we do)? Definitions Control versus Access Descriptive versus normative In search of a normative foundations for privacy “not a court of law but a court of conscience…” BUT … Conflicts, tradeoffs, balancing Principles -- e. g. sensitivity of information Problem: privacy in public (aggregation, data mining, etc. ) Solution: fight it out; interest politics; revert to dogmatism Look for guidance at societal level

Privacy as Contextual Integrity o Norms of Appropriateness determine what types of information are/are not appropriate for a given context o Norms of Distribution (Flow, transfer) determine the principles governing distribution (flow, transfer) of information from one party to another. o o o o S shares information with R at S’s discretion R requires S to share information R may freely share information about S R may not share information about S with anyone R may share information about S under specified constraints Information flow is/is not reciprocal Etc. o Contextual Integrity, is respected when norms of appropriateness and distribution are respected; it is violated when any of the norms are infringed.

Questions § Can we develop systematic ways to inform the technical mission of privacy-preserving data transactions (including data-mining) with contextual norms? § Meta-question: If this is a beginning, how do we establish meaningful, ongoing conversation across the disciplines -- despite vast differences in knowledgebases and methodologies?