• UCLA Data Governance Task Force: final report and recommendations

    I am thrilled to announce that the Data Governance Task Force’s work has completed and its final report and recommendations are now available. We’d like to contribute some ideas for addressing questions about appropriate use of data shared by many of our higher ed colleagues. We’re also interested in thoughts about the report. NB. Availability…

  • Intellectual freedom workshop

    I am excited to be part of a half-day workshop on intellectual freedom being conducted by Maureen Whalen (previously of the Getty Museum) May 19, 2016. Click on the flyer for details. No RSVP necessary.

  • Thanks to all…

    Kent Wada receives California’s Privacy Leadership in Education Award (UCLA Newsroom, October 7, 2015) Privacy in Higher Education: A CPO’s Perspective (EDUCAUSE, January 27, 2016) Spotlight: UCLA’s Kent Wada – Champion of Privacy (UC IT blog, February 4, 2016)

  • DataLex: Privacy, Big Data & the Law

    UC Santa Cruz is holding a day-long event on Tuesday, October 13 at the intersection of big data, privacy, and the law. A diverse and renowned group of speakers and a format designed to engage the audience is going to make for a fascinating and fun day… (Full disclosure: I’m moderating one of the panels.)…

  • Privacy: A foreign member of our connected world

    The senior thesis project of Thom Rugo, a 2015 graduate of the UCLA Department of Design and Media Arts, is “a thought-provoking art piece titled Central Hub, [that] encourages individuals to reevaluate their blasé attitudes toward privacy, data security and surveillance.” From a privacy practitioner’s point of view, it’s a different take on how we can…

  • An invitation to meet the authors of graphic novella “Terms of Service”

    The graphic novella Terms of Service: Understanding Our Role in the World of Big Data examines the role of technology and the implications of sharing our personal information online. I am pleased to join the UCLA Library in presenting authors Michael Keller, a multimedia reporter at Al Jazeera America, and Josh Neufeld, a nonfiction cartoonist,…

  • A data protection seminar for the UCLA community

    Concerned about all the data breach talk in the news lately? Wondering if your departmental practices need review? Join us on February 10th to learn about the policies and practices that can help you avoid getting into a breach situation and what to do if it does happen. This event is free, but seating is…

  • James Bamford at UCLA

    In celebration of its 10th anniversary, the UCLA Board on Privacy and Data Protection invites you to a presentation by James Bamford, author, journalist, and documentary producer dubbed The N.S.A.’s Chief Chronicler in a New Yorker profile. Author of four national bestsellers on the NSA and the intelligence community, Bamford wrote the September 2014 WIRED…

  • Of course we can … but should we?

    Big Data: it’s big, messy, and fast-paced: and demand is endless for more data capture, more intertwingling of sources, more slicing, dicing, massaging, and filtering to reveal insights. These demands can result in uses perceived as mostly helpful (The year open data went worldwide) or mostly icky (How Companies Learn Your Secrets). Demand for new…

  • Distinguishing privacy from security … and why you want both

    Here’s the best visual sound bite I’ve ever seen on privacy and security, simultaneously depicting how they differ and why you want both. Kudos to cartoonist Clay Bennett. (And my personal thanks to Jon Good for pointing me at this.)