Page 33 - Privacy in a Cyber Age Policy and Practice

18 PRIVACY IN A CYBER AGE

require that all data banks that contain sensitive information be encrypted
and include at least some rudimentary form of an audit trail.
Technologies can be recalibrated to collect the “need to know” infor-
mation while shielding extraneous but highly sensitive information from
observation. For example, when law enforcement collects DNA samples
from convicted criminals or arrested individuals, FBI analysts create DNA
profiles using so-called “junk DNA” “because it is not ‘associated with any
known physical or medical characteristics,’ and thus theoretically poses
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only a minimal invasion of privacy.” Storing these “genetic fingerprints”
in national databases is much less intrusive than retaining blood samples,
which contain the entirety of an individual’s DNA sequence. In 2013, the
TSA stopped its use of body scanners that revealed almost-nude images,
using instead scanners that produce “cartoon-like” images on which the
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scanners mark places hidden objects are found. This did not affect the
volume of collection, but lessened the sensitivity of the content.
Other measures must address the fact that often data can be “re-
identified” or “de-anonymized.” In 2006, AOL released the search
records—stripped of “personal identifiers”—of over 600,000 people. An
investigation by the New York Times, however, demonstrated that inti-
mate information—including names and faces—can be gleaned from such
purportedly anonymous data. This risk is mitigated by the development
of statistical methods that prevent such undertakings, such as “differential
privacy,” which allows curators of large databases to release the results of
socially beneficial data analysis without compromising the privacy of the
respondents who make up the sample. 63
Many more examples could be provided. However, those noted here
may suffice to show that, while there are numerous measures in place that
deal with various elements of the privacy cube, these have not been intro-
duced with systematic attention to the guiding principles needed for the
cyber age.