FEATURE 1 OF 3
ADVANCING A FEDERAL PRIVACY LAW TO PROTECT OUR DIGITAL RIGHTS
Privacy is a fundamental human right. Physical safety, free expression, access to justice, and economic security depend on it. For too long, Americans’ digital privacy has varied widely, hinging on the technologies and services we use, the companies that provide those services, and our capacity to navigate confusing notices and settings. It’s time for Congress to pass legislation providing comprehensive protections for personal information that can’t be signed away.
To advance this dialogue, CDT released a draft federal privacy bill for discussion, becoming the first and only civil society group to do so. CDT’s proposed federal privacy legislation is a novel approach that:
- Puts the fundamental rights of individuals first,
- Moves beyond the failed models of notice and choice,
- Creates affirmative obligations for data protection, and
- Tackles civil rights issues head-on.
We developed our proposal in consultation with other members of civil society, industry, and policymakers on both sides of the aisle and at every level of government. The bill rethinks the relationship between businesses and the people whose data they hold, and establishes sensible limits on data collection, use, and sharing so that people can entrust their data to companies without accepting unreasonable risk.
Designing meaningful, workable privacy protections is no easy task, but CDT is committed to making a rights-based federal privacy law in the United States a reality. We hope our draft proposal will inspire feedback and collaboration from all stakeholders and serve as a resource for decision makers who seek to rebalance our privacy ecosystem in favor of users.
FEATURE 2 OF 3
IMPROVING THE PRIVACY OF STUDENTS
Over the last decade, the education sector has embraced the power of data and technology to improve student outcomes, but its efforts to fulfill legal and ethical responsibilities have not always kept pace. When educators, administrators, and educational technology companies fail to meet their responsibilities to protect students’ privacy and appropriately use data about them, they jeopardize public trust and put individuals at risk.
To address these issues, CDT leveraged its longstanding expertise and expanded its focus on student privacy in 2018. We provide solutions-oriented resources for education practitioners and the technology providers who work with them. These resources center on the student, and balance the promises and pitfalls of education data and technology with protecting the privacy rights of students and their families.
In 2018, we hosted multi-stakeholder workshops that brought together education leaders, privacy and civil rights advocates, and the EdTech industry to develop solutions to student privacy challenges around important topics. These included balancing data deletion and retention and ensuring that data-driven school safety initiatives do not compromise students’ privacy and autonomy.
CDT also produced practical resources that education practitioners and the companies that work with them can use. To address the growing need for privacy capacity in education, we released a resource that describes the current status of chief privacy officers in education, how they can help, and practices that make them successful.
In 2019, we look forward to another year of advancing understanding, informed discussions, and practical solutions surrounding student privacy, including data portability for students who move, algorithmic decision- making in areas like school safety and early warning systems, and data integration for educating the whole child.
FEATURE 3 OF 3
MAKING THE 2018 MIDTERM ELECTION MORE SECURE
Core to a healthy democracy are free and secure elections. In recent years, sophisticated disinformation operations and aging computerized election infrastructure have eroded the confidence of voters, and placed core democratic principles at risk. CDT worked to address key election cybersecurity issues in 2018, including election official training, technical volunteer capacity building, and robust post-election auditing.
In preparation for November’s midterm elections, CDT brought our cybersecurity expertise to all levels of government. We conducted direct outreach to more than 300 state and local election officials, and produced usable cybersecurity materials tailored to the threats that election officials are likely to face and the tools they need to respond. On the global stage, we also worked to identify flaws in new voting systems used in places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo. When all was said and done, no major cyber-related incidents disrupted the vote during the 2018 U.S. midterm elections.
The 2018 elections demonstrated that modernizing election infrastructure and combating foreign disinformation will both be elevated priorities for the future. From high levels of humidity impacting the functioning of voting machines in New York to other voting machines flipping some selections in Texas, broken, missing, and flawed equipment dominated the headlines. These incidents resulted in long lines, distrustful voters, and in some cases, lawsuits challenging the validity of the outcome.
The November 2020 general election will come quickly, and CDT, state legislators, and local election officials are already preparing. In 2019, CDT is committed to helping state legislators and local election officials continue securing their elections and improving the voting experience. To set them up for success, we will convene election vendors and security researchers, provide commentary on state and federal legislation, and provide guidance for implementing post-election audits.