Who Owns the Data? An International Conference on Digital Assets, Data Philanthropy, and Public Benefit

As countless social, commercial and civic transactions are rapidly moving to online platforms, and sensors in our houses, cars, and mobile devices send endless streams of data to servers around the world, discussions of "Big Data" have become commonplace. But what happens to the information once it leaves our fingertips or pockets? How is the data being used, who benefits, and what role do individual contributors of data play –wittingly or unwittingly– in the revenue models that sustain the systems?

Building on successful conferences hosted at CITRIS, such as "Can Open Data Improve Democratic Governance?" (September 2013) and "Pan-Optics: Emerging Perspectives on Visual Privacy and Surveillance" (March 2014), we will convene a one-day public conference regarding data ownership and privacy, in spring 2015. "Who Owns the Data?" will bring together data scientists, elected officials, representatives of public agencies and advocacy organizations, and entrepreneurs from the United States and Europe.

Keynote Speaker

Brewster Kahle, The Internet Archive

Panel Topics

Public Data & Private Interests

• Ownership and distribution of data resulting from publicly funded research (e.g., the movement for open access, Public Library of Science, data collected during fieldwork for academic research and promotion)

• Ownership and management of public open data (e.g., civic data such as building permits, birth/death/marriage/adoption records, real estate transaction records, etc.)

Privacy & Personal Data

• Privacy and transparency regarding political financial information (e.g., campaign contributions and expenditures)

• Management of health data gathered from personal fitness devices or through analysis of search terms

Data Philanthropy & Corporate Social Responsibility

• Data philanthropy and new frameworks for sharing private data for public good

• How is data being considered within the framework of corporate social responsibility?

• Questions about the responsibility and liability for data provenance, transmission and storage