Solon Barocas, a Princeton University Center for...

Solon Barocas, a Princeton University Center for Information Technology Policy postdoctoral research associate, and three FTC officials will give the two presentations at the agency’s Sept. 15 daylong workshop on big data (http://1.usa.gov/1nXij2k). FTC officials will also speak, while privacy advocates, data de-identification researchers and industry representatives will fill out the four panels on big data: Its technology, current uses, potential for harm and policy ramifications. FTC officials Chief Technologist Latanya Sweeney and Technology and Data Governance Research Fellow Jinyan Zan will give a presentation on “Digging into the Data.” Sweeney is widely considered to be one of the most prominent data de-identification researchers. Barocas will present his research on “the novel challenges that data mining poses to fairness and privacy,” said his personal website. “I've looked at the use of predictive analytics for counterterrorism, voter microtargeting in political campaigns, the impact of data mining techniques on model-building in economics and finance and the integration of evidence-based medicine with clinical decision support systems.” Chairwoman Edith Ramirez, Commissioner Julie Brill and Consumer Protection Bureau Director Jessica Rich will also speak.