Big White House Data Report 1

The White House has released a new report on big data and privacy. It has not yet released a report on the suspect and widely reported activities of intelligence agencies. In the NYT's estimation, the report does fine job of laying out some of the benefits and problems associated with extensive data collection and its use in business. Among the benefits is such data's value in medical research. But, the NYT in an editorial page article today asks, cant that same data also be used to discriminate in sales or services? The editorial (A Long Way to Privacy Safeguards) commends the report for its recommendation that law enformecemnt agencids seek court approval to access gidital content like email in the same way they do for physical letters – this as the Supreme Court is poised to consider warrantless searches of cell phones.  The story makes the point that consumers lose control over their information from the moment that it is collected, and the point of collection is the point of infection in data privacy.