2d:null 2e:["$","title",null,{"children":"Why Data Privacy Matters | Lance Galletti | Observable"}] 33:T10c2,# Why Data Privacy Matters Most online platforms are proprietary software. This means the only part of the digital world that is and will ever be visible is the collection of User Interfaces (UIs) defined by platforms. A UI is just a small, sometimes misleading^{[[0](https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/28/us/placebo-buttons-elevators-crosswalks.html)]}, window into the inner workings of a platform. Users must trust that platforms are accurately representing their inner workings if they are to make reasonable online decisions. This is in stark contrast to the physical world where we are free to explore and inspect its inner workings - limited only by our ingenuity. Data-driven platforms collect and analyze data submitted by users so they may customize the UI to each individual user. While the experience of personnalized recommendations may seem positive, only being exposed to what you like or already believe in can ultimately have negative societal impacts. Examples include biasing search for information^{[[1](https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-search/#SearEngiBiasProbOpac)]} and furthering polarization of societies^{[[2](https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2014/06/12/political-polarization-in-the-american-public/)]}. Data ultimately shapes the digital world users interact with, customizing platform behavior to user preferences. Neither the data nor the analysis methods driving these recommendations are made available to users. This means users are unable to verify or understand the accuracy and extent of information extracted (and extractable) from the data they submit. Patterns can be learned and exploited to affect users in targeted ways^{[[3](https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/magazine/shopping-habits.html)]}, customizing user behavior to platform preferences. These patterns too are not disclosed to users, inhibiting their ability to change the likely outcomes that await them - arguably stealing agency from users. These patterns however are learned from historical data, reflecting society's past and existing biases and inequalities^{[[4](https://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/case-study/unpacking-biases-in-algorithms-that-perpetuate-inequity/)]} which are then perpetuated by that same lack of visibility and accountability. Armed with user data, these platforms have shown they can have global impact: shaping public opinion and mass behavior, spreading misinformation, impacting voter preferences and political stability^{[[5](https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/meetings/facebook-social-media-privacy-and-the-use-and-abuse-of-data)]}. An impact that would have likely remained unknown were it not for whistleblowers - insiders with a slightly larger window into the platform^{[[6](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/17/us/politics/cambridge-analytica-trump-campaign.html)]}. With data being stored potentially indefinitely, data shared today will be subject to the latest cutting-edge information-extraction techniques of years and decades from now. This far exceeds the timescale we are used to engaging with and we cannot predict what information future tools will be able to extract from the data we submit today. Users cannot then reasonably consent to all the ways in which their data, whose richness is undisclosed and will only increase with the pace of technology, is used or will be used. Further, what control users do have over their data is entirely at the whim of the UI exposing and accurately acting upon that control. Regulations^{[[7](https://www.oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccp)]} have mandated UI changes that have made it possible, for example, for some users to delete their data from platforms. Such regulations are difficult to enforce because it ultimately boils down to our ability to verify software correctness. What's worse, users can follow the UI steps to delete their data but the information extracted from this data may have already been incorporated into the models at large - a change that cannot be undone. With the way software is built and distributed today, data privacy, in my opinion, is not just an educated precaution but a necessity for users to regain agency and control over the data that defines who they are and who they will become.34:[] 31:{"id":"fe60bdee49b06828","slug":"why-data-privacy-matters","title":"Why Data Privacy Matters","thumbnail":"8277ba645a3fb9fe85047c174dc1f5647a2a1b862a4ec2d7f7ba91e14fc513dd","access_level":"public","create_time":"$D2021-09-28T22:27:19.256Z","update_time":"$D2021-09-30T14:55:29.120Z","view_time":null,"first_public_time":"$D2021-09-28T22:34:51.571Z","has_unpublished_edits":null,"fork":true,"stars":0,"starred":false,"owner":{"type":"team","id":"791792a5343379f7","login":"galletti94","name":"Lance Galletti","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/e2e4b1ce10cf5bb72cfe2694371c020ca4d5f76e844e1f20aa2585ecd4fcc75d","tier":"starter_2024"},"version":134,"publish_version":134,"role":null,"authored":false,"authors":[{"type":"individual","id":"2c1e218ff962bf94","login":"galletti94","name":"Lance Galletti","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/e2e4b1ce10cf5bb72cfe2694371c020ca4d5f76e844e1f20aa2585ecd4fcc75d","tier":null}],"members":[{"type":"individual","id":"2c1e218ff962bf94","login":"galletti94","name":"Lance Galletti","avatar_url":"https://avatars-next.observableusercontent.com/e2e4b1ce10cf5bb72cfe2694371c020ca4d5f76e844e1f20aa2585ecd4fcc75d","tier":null,"role":"editor"}],"comments":[],"custom_thumbnail":true,"trashed":false,"lapsed":null,"subscribed":null,"forks":0,"collection":null,"type":"notebook","body":{"title":"Why Data Privacy Matters","cells":[{"id":0,"value":"$33","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"},{"id":21,"value":"----","pinned":false,"hidden":false,"mode":"md","author":"$undefined","summary":"$undefined","output":"$undefined","database":"$undefined"}],"files":"$W34","stdlib":"1","titling":"auto"}} 32:"$31:body"