from the let's-try-something-new dept

Our First Greenhouse Topic: Privacy

For decades the internet has flourished on the back of innovation, creativity, adaptation, and hard work. But while this technological revolution spurred no limit of incredible inventions, services, and profit, a drumbeat of scandals have highlighted how privacy and security were often a distant afterthought — if they were thought about at all.

Years later and the real cost of this apathy has become clear. We now face a daily parade of deeply entrenched privacy headaches impacting a web of interconnected industries and institutions — for which there are no quick fixes or easy answers.

Enter the Tech Policy Greenhouse: a new policy forum we’re hopeful will bring more nuance, collaboration, and understanding to a privacy conversation frequently dominated by simplistic partisan bickering, bad faith arguments, and the kind of ideological ruts that can result in bad solutions, no solutions, or missing the forest for the trees entirely.

When it comes to privacy and security, the penalty for our collective failure couldn’t be more obvious.

The global internet of things sector routinely fails to adhere to even the most basic security and privacy standards, resulting in hackable internet-connected Barbies, refrigerators, and tea kettles. Experts note these devices collectively create a form of "invisible pollution" that is easily ignored, but that routinely puts consumers, businesses, and the health of the internet at risk.

Corporations and governments alike repeatedly leave sensitive data unencrypted and openly exposed in the cloud, often failing to implement basic security measures despite ample warning. Avoidable hacks, breaches, and leaks are now a weekly affair, as are "historic" but performative government penalties that neither compensate victims nor seriously deter further malpractice.

The monetization of every last shred of location, behavior, and data has become a multi-billion dollar industry where safeguards or meaningful oversight are often lacking. As a result, sensitive behavioral data is routinely abused by everyone from law enforcement,to those pretending to be law enforcement, with the first casualties often the most vulnerable among us.

All of these problems require intelligent, multi-stakeholder collaboration built on the understanding that every solution has immense ramifications, there is no shortage of bad actors eager to derail effective consensus, and each and every action routinely results in unforeseen consequences.

The country’s privacy issues are also inextricably linked to other problems that the United States has failed to address, from the rampant monopolization and consolidation caused by mindless merger mania, to the slow but steady erosion of meaningful antitrust oversight. The rise of one of the biggest global health threats in a century has only complicated the debate further, shining an even brighter spotlight on existing problems, while creating entirely new challenges in balancing public health and public privacy in the mass surveillance era.

As we stumble collectively in the right direction, the Tech Policy Greenhouse hopes to reboot a conversation in dire need of a constructive fresh start. Over the next few weeks, you'll be hearing from a diverse chorus of activists, scholars, executives, and experts who will be tackling what they deem the most essential issues of the day. Kicking things off tomorrow will be Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, historically and repeatedly one of the leading DC voices for meaningful privacy reform.

Intelligent privacy policies and solutions won’t be easy to come by, and perfect proposals are likely impossible. But we’re eager to create a platform that can help drive policy makers toward better decision making, and we’re hopeful you’ll be part of the conversation.