Data Privacy

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  • Multimedia

    Devices and Data: The Information We Share

    RAND mathematician Mary Lee describes the wide variety of personal data collected by smart devices and applications, such as smartwatches, brain implants, and period trackers.

    Feb 28, 2023

  • Report

    Regulating the Use of Facial Recognition by Law Enforcement

    Facial recognition technology is developing rapidly and is increasingly being used in policing. What do policymakers need to understand in order to minimize the risks it poses, while also maximizing its benefits?

    Feb 15, 2023

Explore Data Privacy

  • Artificial eye looking through greenery

    Commentary

    Does the United States Face an AI Ethics Gap?

    Instead of worrying about an artificial intelligence “ethics gap,” U.S. policymakers and the military community could embrace a leadership role in AI ethics. This may help ensure that the AI arms race doesn't become a race to the bottom.

    Jan 11, 2019

  • RAND Weekly Recap

    Blog

    Data Breaches, Marijuana, Turkey: RAND Weekly Recap

    This weekly recap focuses on consumer reactions to data breaches, understanding teen marijuana use after legalization, why the United States can't rely on Turkey to defeat ISIS, and more.

    Jan 4, 2019

  • Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing regarding the company's use and protection of user data on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., April 11, 2018

    Commentary

    Data Breaches Could Cause Users to Opt Out of Sharing Personal Data. Then What?

    As tech-based systems have become all but indispensable, many institutions might assume user data will be reliable, meaningful and, most of all, plentiful. But what if this data became unreliable, meaningless, or even scarce?

    Dec 28, 2018

  • A close-up image of a police body camera clipped to a vest

    Report

    Using Video Analytics and Sensor Fusion in Law Enforcement: Building a Research Agenda That Includes Business Cases, Privacy and Civil Rights Protections, and Needs for Innovation

    Video technology is changing the ways that law enforcement works and interacts with the public. In this report, the authors explore some of the challenges posed and innovation needs in this emerging area.

    Dec 28, 2018

  • World map with electronic circuits

    Commentary

    When Cyber Attacks Occur, Who Should Investigate?

    Data breaches and cyberattacks cross geopolitical boundaries, targeting individuals, corporations and governments. Creating a global body with a narrow focus on investigating and assigning responsibility for cyberattacks could be the first step to creating a digital world with accountability.

    Dec 6, 2018

  • The Security Operation Centre for Telstra, Australia's biggest telecoms firm, which is used to monitor, detect and respond to security incidents, including cyber attacks, in Sydney, Australia, August 24, 2017

    Commentary

    Financial Frameworks for Cybersecurity Are Failing

    Cybersecurity has become a team sport. But all participants on the field are playing without clear rules, without a team approach, and without knowing when to pass the ball or to whom.

    Oct 25, 2018

  • A robot's hand selecting a candidate photograph

    Commentary

    Intentional Bias Is Another Way Artificial Intelligence Could Hurt Us

    Conversations about unconscious bias in artificial intelligence often focus on algorithms unintentionally causing disproportionate harm to entire swaths of society. But the problem could run much deeper. Society should be on guard for the possibility that nefarious actors could deliberately introduce bias into AI systems.

    Oct 22, 2018

  • Woman's eye with technology of security concept

    Commentary

    The Perils of Connecting Our Bodies to the Internet

    High-tech health care solutions are part of an emerging sector of medical technologies that monitor personal health data by essentially connecting your body to the Internet. As smart devices in health care evolve, the line between human and machine is blurring, and creating new concerns about consumer safety and privacy rights.

    Oct 15, 2018

  • Doctors using a tablet and a desktop computer to view a patient's medical records

    Commentary

    How Smartphone Apps Could Help Keep Health Records Accurate

    Electronic health records have helped streamline record keeping but providers aren't always able to reliably pull together records for the same patient from different hospitals, clinics, and doctor's offices. The growing use of smartphones offers a promising opportunity to improve record matching.

    Oct 4, 2018

  • Hacker on a laptop

    Commentary

    Have a Victim Response Plan for Data Breaches

    In a large data breach, there could be a real risk to victims' financial or personal security. Though responsible organizations should do everything in their power to ensure data is protected in the first place, they also should prepare a plan to ensure prompt victim response.

    Oct 2, 2018

  • Students using digital tablets

    Commentary

    Privacy and Interoperability Challenges Could Limit the Benefits of Education Technology

    The rise of education technology brings increased opportunity for the collection and application of data. This presents challenges, including data infrastructure issues that could limit the usefulness of data, and privacy concerns.

    Oct 2, 2018

  • News Release

    News Release

    Mobile Phones and Smartphone Apps Hold Promise for Allowing Patient Participation in Improving Medical Record Matching

    Mobile phones and smartphone apps offer a promising approach to ensure that an individual's medical records when shared between different health care providers are matched correctly.

    Aug 22, 2018

  • A medical record app displaying on a smartphone

    Report

    Patients Could Help Improve Record Matching

    When health providers exchange medical records, the success rate can be as low as 50 percent. The ubiquity of mobile phones offers a promising opportunity to create a patient-empowered system to confirm identities that would allow hospitals and other providers to match records more accurately.

    Aug 22, 2018

  • Face detection and recognition

    Commentary

    Keeping Artificial Intelligence Accountable to Humans

    Artificial intelligence (AI) systems are often only as intelligent and fair as the data used to train them. To enable AI that frees humans from bias instead of reinforcing it, experts and regulators must think more deeply not only about what AI can do, but what it should do—and then teach it how.

    Aug 20, 2018

  • Report

    Report

    Developing Cybersecurity Capacity: A proof-of-concept implementation guide

    This document is a proof-of-concept operational toolbox designed to facilitate the development of national-level cybersecurity capacity building programmes and of holistic policy and investment strategies to tackle challenges in the cyber domain.

    Aug 2, 2018

  • Social network illustration superimposed over a city at night

    Report

    How Police Could Use Social Media and Social Network Analysis

    Social media and social network analysis could help law enforcement monitor for safety threats, identify those at high risk for involvement in violence, and investigate crimes and crime networks. But computer security, privacy, and civil rights protections must be in place before using these tools.

    Jul 18, 2018

  • A group of colleagues using their smart phones in synchronicity.

    Multimedia

    Protecting Consumer Data: Considerations for Congress

    Should consumers be in charge of self-regulating the data they share and how companies use it? What policy opportunities could Congress consider to better protect consumer data? In this RAND Congressional briefing, Rebecca Balebako and John Davis discuss the benefits and risks of data sharing, opportunities for protecting privacy at both the personal and industry level, and current U.S. laws and how they compare to European laws.

    Jun 8, 2018

  • Osonde Osoba in a RAND panel discussion in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, February 20, 2018

    Q&A

    The Human Side of Artificial Intelligence: Q&A with Osonde Osoba

    Osonde Osoba has been exploring AI since age 15. He says it's less about the intelligence and more about being able to capture how humans think. He is developing AI to improve planning and is also studying fairness in algorithmic decisionmaking in insurance pricing and criminal justice.

    May 1, 2018

  • Server room data center with icon representing cloud storage

    Report

    Identifying Law Enforcement Needs for Access to Digital Evidence in Remote Data Centers

    Researchers discuss the challenge of accessing data in remote data centers, summarize the discussion of an expert panel, and provide a list of needs identified and prioritized by the panel to inform concerned communities and stakeholders.

    Apr 23, 2018

  • William Welser IV, Rebecca Balebako, and Osonde Osoba in a RAND panel discussion in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, February 20, 2018

    Blog

    'Alexa, What Do You Know About Me, and Who Are You Telling?'

    RAND experts held a wide-ranging discussion about artificial intelligence and privacy. They raised questions about fairness and equity regarding privacy and data use, while also highlighting positive trends and developments across the evolving AI-privacy landscape.

    Mar 1, 2018