Spotlight: the European AI Act
What Is The Digital Divide In Data Privacy?
The digital divide is unequal access to technology and resources.
Such lack of resources prevent communities from protecting their digital information and online privacy.
The divide is observed in lower-income or rural areas because high-speed internet, data privacy literacy, and affordable digital security may be limited.
This TED talk by Fred Cate, Vice President of Research at Indiana University explains why privacy law is complicated.
Who are affected the most by a lack of data privacy ?
Children
Women
Those Experiencing
Poverty
The Risk Trafficking
Identity theft
selling of personal data
The Risk harassment,
stalking, and trafficking
The Risk
debt resulting
from breaches
Marginalized
Communities
The Risk discrimination bias mass surveillance
The cost of doing nothing
$1,069
is the average cost of a data breach
IBM Data Breach Report 2022
Low-income
individuals are more vulnerable to data breaches
United States Department of Justice
31%
of people don't feel private online
Pew Research Center
69%
of parents upload photographs of their children aged 0-8 year old on social media
Ofcom Media Report 2022
Free apps share
more data than paid ones
7x
Icogni Android App Review 2021
40%
of sex trafficking victims are recruited online
Washington University Law Review
References IBM. (2023). IBM Security: Cost of a Data Breach Report. Retrieved from https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach Incogni Blog. (n.d.). New Year Resolutions Apps Research. Retrieved from https://blog.incogni.com/new-year-resolutions-apps-research/ Ofcom. (2022). Children's Media Use and Attitudes Report 2022. Retrieved from https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/234609/childrens-media-use-and-attitudes-report-2022.pdf Rainie, L., & Anderson, M. (2019). Americans and Privacy: Concerned, Confused and Feeling Lack of Control Over Their Personal Information. Pew Research Center. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2019/11/15/americans-and-privacy-concerned-confused-and-feeling-lack-of-control-over-their-personal-information/ U.S. Department of Justice. (n.d.). Official Website. Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/ Ohm, P. (2010). Broken Promises of Privacy: Responding to the Surprising Failure of Anonymization. Washington University Law Review, 88(3), 599-606. Retrieved from https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6265&context=law_lawreview
What do experts say about the Data-Privacy Gap?
The Center For Humane Technology
Tristan Harris
Co-founder & Executive Director
The Center for Humane Technology believes the solution to increasing humane technology by advocating for:
-
Prioritizing human well-being
-
Fostering public awareness about the impact of technology on society, and
-
Creating policies that promote ethical and humane technology practices.
The proposed solution involves a mix of policy leaders, UX and UI designers, and tech executives to choose technology that protects a user’s right to privacy.
The Brookings Institute
Nicol Turner Lee
Senior Fellow - Governance Studies | Director - Center for Technology Innovation
The Brookings Institute has appointed Dr. Turner Lee to address the current state of the digital divide.
Dr. Turner Lee emphasizes the importance of comprehensive digital inclusion programs that go beyond mere access to technology.
These initiatives should address barriers such as affordability, digital literacy, and kills development.
She advocates for partnerships between the government, privacy sector, and community organzaitons to provide digital training programs and resources.
The Mozilla Foundation
The Mozilla Foundation believes that the solution to generating increased data privacy is to promote a “Data Dividend” model.
This ensures that users are compensated for their personal data.
The foundation supports privacy-enhancing technologies and advocates for policies that protect user privacy.
For example, they promote strong data protection laws and for people to have more control over their personal information.