Protecting Your Privacy in a Data-Driven World

At what point does the sacrifice to our personal information outweigh the public good? If public policymakers had access to our personal and confidential data, they could make more evidence-based, data-informed decisions that could accelerate economic recovery and improve COVID-19 vaccine distribution. However, access to personal data comes at a steep privacy cost for contributors, especially underrepresented groups. Protecting Your Privacy in a Data-Driven World is a practical, nontechnical guide that explains the importance of balancing these competing needs and calls for careful consideration of how data are collected and disseminated by our government and the private sector. Not addressing these concerns can harm the same communities policymakers are trying to protect through data privacy and confidentiality legislation. Claire McKay Bowen is the Lead Data Scientist for Privacy and Data Security at the Urban Institute. Her research focuses on assessing the quality of differentially private data synthesis methods and science communication. In 2021, the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies identified her as an emerging leader in statistics for her technical contributions and leadership to statistics and the field of data privacy and confidentiality--