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Ann Cavoukian

Former Commissioner Dr. Ann Cavoukian: Never give up on privacy!

March 18, 2020 by Socrates

https://media.blubrry.com/singularity/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/778411666-singularity1on1-ann-cavoukian-privacy.mp3

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Dr. Ann Cavoukian was Ontario’s Privacy Commissioner for unprecedented 17 years and held the position during 3 different provincial governments. About 7 years ago, while still in office, I interviewed Ann Cavoukian on her original concept of Privacy by Design. [PbD] So if you haven’t seen it yet it may be best to start by watching our previous conversation first because I will try not to repeat any of the questions that I asked last time. In the meantime, Cavoukian’s PbD has gone global and has been translated into 40 languages and implemented in the European GDPR legislation.

During this 45 min interview with Dr. Ann Cavoukian, we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: the growth in understanding of the importance of privacy coinciding with the growth of surveillance; the moving personal story of how art saved the lives of the Cavoukian family during the Armenian genocide; the coronavirus pandemic, surveillance, privacy, and democracy; the racist and sexist false positives of facial recognition; the benefits of GDPR; Waterfront Toronto, Sidewalk Labs, and Toronto’s Smart City; the importance of data de-identification at source; upgrading the privacy laws in Canada; smart speakers such as Amazon’s Alexa; cryptography, software backdoors, and the keys-under-doormats campaign; PbD and AI Ethics.

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation or become a patron on Patreon.

Who is Ann Cavoukian?

Dr. Ann Cavoukian is recognized as one of the world’s leading privacy experts. Dr. Cavoukian served an unprecedented three terms as the Information & Privacy Commissioner of Ontario, Canada. There she created Privacy by Design, a framework that seeks to proactively embed privacy into the design specifications of information technologies, networked infrastructure and business practices, thereby achieving the strongest protection possible. In 2010, International Privacy Regulators unanimously passed a Resolution recognizing Privacy by Design as an International Standard. Since then, PbD has been translated into 40 languages! In 2018, PbD was included in a sweeping new law in the EU: the General Data Protection Regulation. [GDPR]

Dr. Cavoukian is now the Executive Director of the Global Privacy & Security by Design Centre. She is also a Senior Fellow of the Ted Rogers Leadership Centre at Ryerson University, and a Faculty Fellow of the Center for Law, Science & Innovation at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.

Dr. Cavoukian is the author of two books, The Privacy Payoff: How Successful Businesses Build Customer Trust with Tyler Hamilton, and Who Knows: Safeguarding Your Privacy in a Networked World with Don Tapscott. She has received numerous awards recognizing her leadership in privacy, including being named as one of the Top 25 Women of Influence in Canada, named as one of the Top 10 Women in Data Security and Privacy, and named as one of the ‘Power 50’ by Canadian Business. She was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the Governor General of Canada for her outstanding work on creating Privacy by Design and taking it global (May, 2017), named as one of the 50 Most Impactful Smart Cities Leaders (November, 2017), named among the Top Women in Tech (December, 2017), was awarded the Toastmasters Communication and Leadership Award (April, 2018), recognized among the Top 100 Identity Influencers (February, 2019), and most recently, she was named among the Top 18 Global AI Influencers within the AI & Tech Space (February, 2019), was awarded the 2020 Canadian Women in Cybersecurity Lifetime Achievement Award In Recognition of Your Outstanding Contributions to Cybersecurity and Privacy in Ontario (March 2020).

Filed Under: Podcasts Tagged With: Ann Cavoukian, Privacy

Privacy Commissioner Dr. Ann Cavoukian: We have to protect privacy globally or we protect it nowhere!

July 26, 2013 by Socrates

https://media.blubrry.com/singularity/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/202772078-singularity1on1-ann-cavoukian.mp3

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This Wednesday I was very privileged to interview Dr. Ann Cavoukian. Dr. Cavoukian is the information and privacy commissioner of the province of Ontario (Canada) as well as the creator and foremost global champion of the privacy by design philosophy. She has been one of the most vocal proponents of privacy and the fact that it doesn’t have to come at the price of security or innovation. And so, I was very happy to visit the privacy commissioner’s office and interview her for Singularity 1 on 1.

ann-cavoukian

During our 45 minute conversation with Dr. Ann Cavoukian we cover a variety of interesting topics such as: why privacy is vital for freedom; her background as an Armenian born in Egypt; her personal goals and motivation; why privacy and security (or technological innovation) is not a zero-sum game; the main responsibilities and legal powers of the privacy commissioner’s office; privacy by design as the proactive/preventative default solution to positive sum outcomes; the seven founding principles of privacy by design; NSA’s PRISM program, surveillance by design and false positives; why metadata is more important and revealing than content; why she believes that we owe a debt of gratitude to people such as Edward Snowden, Bradley Manning and Julian Assange; whether enhanced privacy helps or hurts a company’s bottom line; Digital Rights Management (DRM) and open source software; the internet of things and privacy by design; what we can do to fight for and protect our own privacy…

My favorite quotes that I will take away from this conversation with Dr. Cavoukian are:

Privacy knows no borders: we have to protect privacy globally or we protect it nowhere!

and

Have hope!  […] Challenge the view that privacy is dead! […] Uphold privacy and know that you can have it. Know that we must have it! We must have privacy and freedom – that’s what it means to be human.

As always you can listen to or download the audio file above or scroll down and watch the video interview in full. To show your support you can write a review on iTunes, make a direct donation or become a patron on Patreon.

 

Who is Dr. Ann Cavoukian?

P1060304Dr. Ann Cavoukian is recognized as one of the leading privacy experts in the world. Noted for her seminal work on Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) in 1995, her concept of Privacy by Design seeks to proactively embed privacy into the design specifications of information technology and accountable business practices, thereby achieving the strongest protection possible. In October, 2010, regulators from around the world gathered at the annual assembly of International Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Jerusalem, Israel, and unanimously passed a landmark Resolution recognizing Privacy by Design as an essential component of fundamental privacy protection. This was followed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s inclusion of Privacy by Design as one of its three recommended practices for protecting online privacy – a major validation of its significance.

An avowed believer in the role that technology can play in the protection of privacy, Dr. Cavoukian’s leadership has seen her office develop a number of tools and procedures to ensure that privacy is strongly protected, not only in Canada, but around the world. She has been involved in numerous international committees focused on privacy, security, technology and business, and endeavours to focus on strengthening consumer confidence and trust in emerging technology applications.

Dr. Cavoukian serves as the Chair of the Identity, Privacy and Security Institute at the University of Toronto, Canada. She is also a member of several Boards including, the European Biometrics Forum, Future of Privacy Forum, RIM Council, and has been conferred as a Distinguished Fellow of the Ponemon Institute. Dr. Cavoukian was honoured with the prestigious Kristian Beckman Award in 2011 for her pioneering work on Privacy by Design and privacy protection in modern international environments. In the same year, Dr. Cavoukian was also named by Intelligent Utility Magazine as one of the Top 11 Movers and Shakers for the Global Smart Grid industry, received the SC Canada Privacy Professional of the Year Award and was honoured by the University of Alberta Information Access and Protection of Privacy Program for her positive contribution to the field of privacy.

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Filed Under: Podcasts Tagged With: Ann Cavoukian, Privacy

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Ethos: “Technology is the How, not the Why or What. So you can have the best possible How but if you mess up your Why or What you will do more damage than good. That is why technology is not enough.” Nikola Danaylov

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