A Practical Model for Real Privacy Protection

[Commentary] In their recent paper “Databuse and a Trusteeship Model of Consumer Protection in the Big Data Era”, Benjamin Wittes and Wells Bennett argue we need to reconceptualize privacy.

Privacy has morphed into a notion that could describe a range of beliefs and precisely but captures none of the potential harms. Consumers care about privacy, “in proportion to whether it is used for our benefit or to our detriment and critically, how seriously to our detriment.”

The authors invoke the concept of databause. Databuse is a negative right that invokes companies to safeguard consumers from undesired harms that might result from the sharing of data. They argue for a trusteeship model where companies are responsible to serve as good stewards of the data consumers entrust to them.

The authors identify several attributes of a good data trustee:
Safely store private data
Never use data in a way that injures consumers
Disclose uses of data in an open and clear manner
To the greatest degree possible give users control over how their data is shared and used
Keep promises to consumers about data