Open Data and Privacy

Abstract

Privacy concerns are increasingly at the forefront of debates about data. As a result, there has been a growing focus on privacy issues in advocacy and work on open data. This paper provides a review of privacy issues in open data, taking into account the shifting economic context for the exploitation of data in big data analytics and AI technologies. Privacy rights are complex, and are not absolute. There is often a balance to strike between transparency and privacy when government information about individuals is involved. This paper examines this balance and argues that striking this balance requires training and resources, and combined commitments to both respecting privacy and advancing openness.