When personal data becomes open data: An exploration of lifelogging, user privacy, and implications for privacy literacy

Abstract

This paper argues that there is a need for an awareness and education about privacy literacy in an age where lifelogging technologies are ubiquitous and open up private data to commercial and other uses, wherein commercial entities build up huge digital libraries of private data that they then mine with big data analytics. Often, data is represented as if they are the raw material of information and algorithms, and as neutral agents for processing these pieces of information, but in our digital society, this so-called neutral data can become open data that can be processed easily to reveal informational metadata on individuals’ behaviors. Whilst much of this may be beyond individual control, and simply an unavoidable part of our information society, there are certain types of personal and private data that can be, and need to be, under individual control, and not open to integration or ‘hashing’ with public data. This requires a new type of data literacy on the part of users that we term as privacy literacy.