Ann Cavoukian, Ph.D.
Privacy & Big Data Ins9tute
Ryerson University
Toronto Sunshine Summit September 22, 2014
Big Data, Open Data … Personal Data?
Navigate around the Mine Fields to Avoid
Openness, Transparency
& Accountability:
Governments Must Be Accountable
• Ci#zens have a right of access to government held informa#on with limited excep#ons;
• Remember – the government is there at the pleasure of the governed – not the reverse;
• Openness and transparency form the bedrock of free and democra#c socie#es:
• Governments must be held accountable for democracy to work;
• Government records must be accessible to the public.
Transparency
“It’s the Public’s Business”
“We do not, and never will, accept the
proposiJon that the business of the
public is none of the public’s business.”
— The Honourable Ian ScoM, July, 1985.
Why it Happened
“I have seen many government organiza2ons with strong policies and training materials in place to convey their policies to staff. However, all too o<en these same organiza2ons have failed to adequately implement these policies.”
“This failure to comply with the records reten2on requirements coupled with a culture of avoiding the crea2on of wriBen and electronic records, assists in explaining the apparent paucity of documents rela2ng to the gas plant closures produced by the offices of the former Minister of Energy and the former Premier.”
— Commissioner Cavoukian,
Dele2ng Accountability: Record Management Prac2ces of Poli2cal Staff -‐ A Special Inves2ga2on Report,
Statement by the Minister of Government Services
on the Commissioner’s Special Report
“The acJons we are announcing address Dr. Cavoukian's
non-‐legislaJve recommendaJons”
1. Developing a mandatory training program for all poli#cal staff to
ensure that staff are fully aware of and trained in their records management obliga#ons;
2. Crea#ng a working group of Premier's Office staff, Cabinet Office
staff and Ministry of Government Services staff to clarify and strengthen the government's records reten#on policies and prac#ces so that they can successfully be put into prac#ce;
— Hon. John Milloy
Minister of Government Services, September 4, 2013
Statement by the Minister of Government Services
on the Commissioner’s Special Report
(Cont’d)3. Appoin#ng ministers' chiefs of staff and the Premier's chief
of staff as the persons accountable for the implementa#on and compliance with records management policies in each of their respec#ve offices and appoin#ng a senior advisor in the Premier's Office to provide advice and guidance to all offices on these issues; and
4. Improving archiving requirements by conduc#ng a review
of the archiving schedules.
— Hon. John Milloy
Minister of Government Services, September 4, 2013
Access by Design
The 7 Fundamental Principles
1. ProacJve, Not Reac9ve
2. Access Embedded into Design
3. Openness and Transparency
= Accountability
4. Fosters CollaboraJon
5. Enhance Efficient Government
6. Make Access Truly Accessible
The Age of Big Data … Open Data
and Big Privacy
Big Data – Yes
Open Data – Yes
Personal Data -‐ No
The Journal News Gun Map:
Open Data vs. Personal Data
• In 2012, The Journal News published a map showing the home addresses and names of handgun owners in two New York coun#es;
• The map was constructed with data acquired through Freedom of Informa#on requests;
• In retalia#on, an independent online blogger published the home addresses and names of the newspaper staff.
— David Eaves,
The Journal News Gun Map: Open vs. Personal Data,
Open Data vs. Personal Data
• “It is cri2cal that this debate not get sloppy. This is not about
open data. It is about personally idenJfiable data – and what
governments should and should not do with it. A great deal of open data has nothing to do with individuals. However, if we
allow the two to become synonymous… expect a backlash
against Open Data.”
— David Eaves,
The Journal News Gun Map: Open vs. Personal Data,
Open Data
Unless there is good reason to the contrary, data that is not PII
should be:
•
Free and open – transparent;
•
Easily visible and discoverable;
•
Based on open standards and thus
machine-‐readable and user-‐friendly;
•
Licenced to permit free re-‐use and
transforma#on by others, enabling far
greater par#cipa#on.
Components of Open Government
• Public sector informa9on as a key resource:
– Op2mal public value – working with much broader
group of par2cipants – par2cipatory government;
• Proac9ve disclosure – “Open Data” regime:
– Greater transparency and legi2macy;
• Use technology to increase ci9zen engagement and
collabora9on in making public policy, and provide
service back to individuals – enabling greater ci2zen
Resolu9on of Informa9on & Privacy
Commissioners
“Calls for greater openness and transparency are exer2ng
pressure on governments to transform their tradi2onal, reac2ve informa2on
dissemina2on methods into a mode that facilitates proac2ve disclosure.”
— September 1, 2010
www.ipc.on.ca/images/Resources/FPT_Whitehorse_-‐ _Resolu#on_Final_EN_1.pdf
Concluding Thoughts
•
Governments must remain open and accountable –
transparency is absolutely cri#cal to preserving our
freedom;
•
Ci#zens have a right to know what their governments
are doing – they need access to public data in order
to par#cipate meaningfully in society -‐ holding their
governments accountable;
•
Make openness and disclosure of government
informa#on (not personally iden#fiable data)
the default – open data, open government!
Contact Informa9on
Ann Cavoukian, Ph.D.
Execu9ve Director
Privacy & Big Data Ins9tute Ryerson University 285 Victoria Street Toronto, Ontario M5B 2K3 Phone: (416) 979-‐5000 x 3138 [email protected]
