Privacy in the Age of Big Data Bart van der Sloot Institute for Information Law (UvA) Amsterdam Platform for Privacy Reserach Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy

Research interests Do data protection rules protect the individual and should they? An assessment of the proposed General Data Protection Regulation, International Data Privacy Law, 2014-4 Privacy in the post-nsa era: time for a fundamental revision?, JIPITEC, 2014-1. Current research: Virtue Ethical approach

Overview Current paradigm 2. Big Data and the NSA 3. Privacy and virtue ethics

1. Current paradigm European Convention on Human Rights of the Council of Europe (1950) ARTICLE 8 - Right to respect for private and family life 1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence. 2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic wellbeing of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

1. Current paradigm 1. Individual right 2. Individual interest Focussed on natural persons No actio popularis, hypothetical or abstract claims 2. Individual interest Only indivudal interests Relative interests 3. Balanced with societal interest Mostly confliciting with societal interest Private and public interest are balanced

2. Big Data Massive amounts of data stored By citizens (smartphones), businesses (cookies) and states (covert surveillence) Use/goal only clear after processing Not targeted at specific individuals Data mostly aggregated – group profiles and statistical patterns Datasets shared, connected and harvested

2. Big Data 1. Individual right 2. Individual interest Unaware of potential violation Unable to claim right (in practical sense) 2. Individual interest Individual interest vague and abstract Societal interest at stake? 3. Balanced against each other Societal interests vague and abstract Absolute norms?

3. Virtue ethics 1. Focus on agent: Shift of burden of proof and focus on the quality of the action 2. Focus on character (consequences and intentions) 3. Focus on virtues: Virtues of Temperence, Honesty and Prudence

3. Virtue ethics 1. Privacy should not only be regarded as an individual right, but also a general virtue of the state (class actions, DPA, civil society) 2. Privacy should not only be about the consequences for the citizen, but also about the good character of the state (hypothetical, abstract and a-priori claims) and on the ulterior interests of the citizens 3. Privacy cases should not only be resolved by balancing different interests, but also by assessing the virtuousness of actions as such (intrinsic assessement)