1. Privacy and Visibility in
the Sensor Society
PICNIC 2008, Visible Amsterdam
mr. dr. Bart W. Schermer
18 September 2008
schermer@considerati.com

2. About Considerati & eLaw Leiden
Public Affairs, Corporate Communication, Consultancy
Specialised in legal and public policy aspects of ICT and new media
www.considerati.com
eLaw@Leiden, centre for law in the information Society
Leiden University, faculty of law
http://www.law.leiden.edu/organisation/metajuridica/elaw/

3. Agenda
The Information Society
What is privacy?
Privacy and visibility in the Sensor Society
Conclusions

4. The Information Society
Yesterday machines could Do
Today machines can Think
Tomorrow machines can Sense
The day after tomorrow machines can Learn and Anticipate
Source: prof. Emile Aarts, Philips

5. The internet of things

6. The Visible City

7. 7
What is privacy?

8. What is privacy?
The right to be let alone
(Warren and Brandeis 1890)
The right to protection of the personal sphere
(Blok 2002)
The right to be yourself
The right to determine what happens with your personal data
(Westin 1967)
Et cetera, et cetera

9. What is privacy?
Goals:
- shielding the private life
- avoiding nuisance
- protection of identities
- maintaining personal autonomy
- maintaining economic equality
Dimensions:
- home
- body
- correspondence
- information

10. Risks...
Balance of power
Social cohesion
Nuisance
Economic equality

11. Legal framework
Grondwet (articles 10 to 13 Gw)
Law enforcement
- Police Act
- Criminal procedure
- Data Retention Act
- Police Files Act
Private Sector
- Data Protection Act (WBP)
- Telecommunications Act
Conceived prior to the Sensor Age!!
- Outdated definitions such as ‘personal data’ and ‘processor’
- Outdated enforcement mechanisms

12. Solutions
What is at stake? -> Determine privacy context
Public sector
- Privacy by design
- Transparency (by design)
- Checks and balances
- Holistic approach (visible city)
- Manage perceptions
Private Sector
- Privacy by design
- Transparency (by design)
- Consumer in control
- Provide benefits
- Manage perceptions

13. Conclusions
Anonimity and invisibility are impossible in the sensor society
Privacy as a monolithic concept is heavily outdated
Legal framework has difficulty with the reality of a visible city
...however, we still have ‘the right to be let alone’
The answer to the machine is (for the most part) in the machine
Perception is as important as the law