June 15, 2017: Invited Speaker Seminar: We Must Act Now to Embed Privacy and Security into Design, Before it Becomes Too Late

Dr. Ann Cavoukian
Ryerson University

Thursday, June 15, 2017 at 12:30 pm
Room EV003.309

Abstract

Privacy is presently under siege. With the growth of ubiquitous computing, online connectivity, social media, wireless/wearable devices, and the Internet of Things, people are being led to believe they have no choice but to give up on privacy. This is not true! Dr. Cavoukian will outline a privacy framework called Privacy by Design that will enable our privacy and our freedom, to live now, and well into the future. This was recently expanded to creating an International Council on Privacy and Security, by Design, with founding members: Darren Entwistle, President and CEO of TELUS; Michael Chertoff, Executive Chairman of ‘The Chertoff Group’ and second Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Gilles de Kerchove, Director of E.U. Counter-Terrorism; and Greg Wolfond, CEO of SecureKey.

While some believe that fundamental privacy protections will be challenged by the operation of Big Data analytics and the Internet of Things, Dr. Cavoukian dispels the notion that privacy acts as a barrier to analytics and the innovations they can spark. Quite the opposite: Privacy breeds innovation and prosperity! She argues that the limiting paradigm of “zero-sum” – that you can only have privacy or innovation, but not both – is an outdated, win/lose model of approaching the question of privacy in the age of Big Data and IoT. Instead, a “positive-sum” solution is needed in which the interests of both sides may be met, in a doubly-enabling, win-win manner through Privacy by Design (PbD). PbD is predicated on the rejection of zero-sum propositions by proactively identifying the risks and embedding the necessary protective measures directly into the design and data architecture involved. This area is ripe for new research including machine learning, encryption, AI, blockchain and other developing technologies. Dr. Cavoukian will demonstrate how you can embed privacy and security into virtually any system or operation to achieve positive-sum outcomes, enabling both privacy and data utility – not one at the expense of the other. It is essential that we preserve our privacy, which forms the foundation of our freedom and prosperity. And we must begin to do so now, otherwise we may lose the opportunity to preserve our freedoms.

Biography

Dr. Ann Cavoukian is recognized as one of the world’s leading privacy experts. She is presently the Executive Director of the Privacy and Big Data Institute at Ryerson University. Dr. Cavoukian served an unprecedented three terms as the Information & Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada. There she created Privacy by Design, a framework that seeks to proactively embed privacy into design, thereby achieving the strongest protection possible. In 2010, International Privacy Regulators unanimously passed a Resolution recognizing Privacy by Design as an international standard. Since then, PbD has been translated into 39 languages. Dr. Cavoukian has received numerous awards recognizing her leadership in privacy, including being named as one of the Top 25 Women of Influence in Canada, named among the Top 10 women in Data Security and Privacy, and most recently, named as one of the Top 100 Leaders in Identity (January, 2017).