The state of the art in privacy impact assessment

There is growing interest in Europe in privacy impact assessment (PIA). The UK introduced the first PIA methodology in Europe in 2007, and Ireland followed in 2010. PIAs provide a way to detect potential privacy problems, take precautions and build tailored safeguards before, not after, the organisation makes heavy investments in the development of a new technology, service or product. This paper presents some findings from the Privacy Impact Assessment Framework (PIAF) project and, in particular, the project's first deliverable, which analyses the similarities and differences between PIA methodologies in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States, with a view to picking out the best elements which could be used in constructing an optimised PIA methodology for Europe. The project, which began in January 2011, is being undertaken for the European Commission's Directorate General Justice. The first deliverable was completed in September. The paper provides some background on privacy impact assessment, identifies some of its benefits and discusses elements that can be used in construction of a state-of-the-art PIA methodology.     

Privacy principles,risks and harms

The protection of privacy is predicated on the individual's right to privacy and stipulates a number of principles that are primarily focused on information privacy or data protection and, as such, are insufficient to apply to other types of privacy and to the protection of other entities beyond the individual. This article identifies additional privacy principles that would apply to other types of privacy and would enhance the consideration of risks or harms to the individual, to groups and to society as a whole if they are violated. They also relate to the way privacy impact assessment (PIA) may be conducted. There are important reasons for generating consideration of and debate about these principles. First, they help to recalibrate a focus in Europe on data protection to the relative neglect of other types of privacy. Second, it is of critical importance at a time when PIA (renamed ‘data protection impact assessment’, or DPIA) may become mandatory under the European Commission's proposed Data Protection Regulation. Such assessment is an important instrument for identifying and mitigating privacy risks, but should address all types of privacy. Third, one can construct an indicative table identifying harms or risks to these additional privacy principles, which can serve as an important tool or instrument for a broader PIA to address other types of privacy.     

加拿大环境影响评价制度的比较与启示

加拿大从20世纪70年代就开始发展环境影响评价制度,至今其涉及环境影响评价制度的法律法规不计其数。加拿大有关环境影响评价的法律主要是《加拿大环境评价法》,该法明确规定了环境影响评价的主要目的,归纳为谨慎行事、预防污染、重视合作以及鼓励公众参与。而加拿大环评制度的主要内容也很好地体现了这一原则。《加拿大环境评价法》第19条规定了环境评价的主要内容,其中的可替代性方案、缓解措施以及研究委员会的报告都是该部法律中比较有特色而且值得研究的内容,这些严格谨慎的规定使加拿大环境影响评价制度可以发挥更大的作用,更好地预防污染,保护环境。本文以介绍和分析加拿大环境评价制度的对象和内容为主,并对比分析我国环境影响评价的内容,旨在为完善我国环境影响评价制度有所启示和借鉴。     

环境影响评价制度中公共利益与个人利益的冲突及衡量

伴随着中国经济的迅速发展以及城市化进程的加快,环境问题尤其是污染项目环境影响评价和环境行政许可引发的利益冲突日益显现,已成为备受关注的社会热点问题。环境影响评价制度中的公共利益与个人利益都需要保护,如何进行衡量至关重要。在分析环境影响评价制度中公共利益与个人利益内容和冲突原因的基础上,阐明利益衡量原则和方法,提出了完善环境影响评价制度利益衡量机制及对策。     

The ICO and artificial intelligence: The role of fairness in the GDPR framework

The year 2017 has seen many EU and UK legislative initiatives and proposals to consider and address the impact of artificial intelligence on society, covering questions of liability, legal personality and other ethical and legal issues, including in the context of data processing. In March 2017, the Information Commissioner's Office (UK) updated its big data guidance to address the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and to provide (GDPR), which will apply from 25 May 2018.This paper situates the ICO's guidance in the context of wider legal and ethical considerations and provides a critique of the position adopted by the ICO. On the ICO's analysis, the key challenge for artificial intelligence processing personal data is in establishing that such processing is fair. This shift reflects the potential for artificial intelligence to have negative social consequences (whether intended or unintended) that are not otherwise addressed by the GDPR. The question of ‘fairness’ is an important one, to address the imbalance between big data organisations and individual data subjects, with a number of ethical and social impacts that need to be evaluated.     

Tippins and Wittman Revisited: Law,Social Science,and the Role of the Child Custody Expert 14 Years Later

It has been 14 years since Tippins and Wittmann ( 2005 ) voiced concern for the overreaching role the expert may play in matters of family law. This article sets their levels of inference within the context of the culture of both law and social science. We examine how inferences are impacted by the relative emphasis child custody experts give to the five stakeholders involved in child custody evaluations (CCEs): courts, lawyers, parents, children, and professional governing bodies. Acculturation of the assessor to law contributes to more egregious inferences, versus the more modest ones Tippins and Wittmann advocated. How evaluators prioritize stakeholders shapes their opinion and methodology. We offer an expanded perspective that views how their levels of inference are manifest in reports, methodology, and recommendations and the influence of the culture of law and the mindset of the clinician. We hope to encourage clinicians to find ways to operationalize clinical humility, assume their proper role, and remain true to their master identity as licensed mental health professionals and their proper sphere of authority.     

社会建构论的人性观取向及其心理学意义

社会建构论是当代西方心理学中后现代取向的主要代表.社会建构论反对内源决定论和外源决定论的人性观,主张人性是社会的、话语的建构,是关系的存在.社会建构论人性观对现代心理学的研究取向、研究方法、心理成因、心理治疗等都产生了深刻的影响和冲击.不同心理学者应以宽容、整合、超越的视界看待社会建构论的这种新型人性观对当代主流心理学所带来的影响和冲击,以促进整个心理学科的健康发展并最终走向融合.     

析《规划环境影响评价条例》

《规划环境影响评价条例》的颁布是我国环境立法的重大进展。它对进一步规范和促进规划环境影响评价工作,切实保障在规划源头预防环境污染和生态破坏,健全环境影响评价制度具有重要意义。与环境影响评价法相比,该务例有很多亮点,但仍存在一些缺陷。针对其存在的问题,如何强化公众参与、完善规划审查、强化法律责任、增加替代方案等,将是今后条例完善应重点探讨的问题。     

我国环境影响评价制度的不足与完善——以司法介入为救济途径的考察

从环境影响评价制度在国内外的发展状况,分析了我国该制度中存在的管理型法制、司法介入滞后等问题,提出了我国环境影响评价制度的司法救济途径,即检察权在民事诉讼中的介入与行使、行政公益诉讼的建立与完善。     

Understanding the notion of risk in the General Data Protection Regulation

The goal of this contribution is to understand the notion of risk as it is enshrined in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), with a particular on Art. 35 providing for the obligation to carry out data protection impact assessments (DPIAs), the first risk management tool to be enshrined in EU data protection law, and which therefore contains a number of key elements in order to grasp the notion. The adoption of this risk-based approach has not come without a number of debates and controversies, notably on the scope and meaning of the risk-based approach. Yet, what has remained up to date out of the debate is the very notion of risk itself, which underpins the whole risk-based approach. The contribution uses the notions of risk and risk analysis as tools for describing and understanding risk in the GDPR. One of the main findings is that the GDPR risk is about “compliance risk” (i.e., the lower the compliance the higher the consequences upon the data subjects' rights). This stance is in direct contradiction with a number of positions arguing for a strict separation between compliance and risk issues. This contribution sees instead issues of compliance and risk to the data subjects rights and freedoms as deeply interconnected. The conclusion will use these discussions as a basis to address the long-standing debate on the differences between privacy impact assessments (PIAs) and DPIAs. They will also warn against the fact that ultimately the way risk is defined in the GDPR is somewhat irrelevant: what matters most is the methodology used and the type of risk at work therein.     

‘Supportive Parenting’, Responsibility and Regulation: The Welfare Assessment under the Reformed Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (1990)

Section 13(5) of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 requires fertility clinics, before offering regulated treatment services, to take account of the welfare of any child who may be born as a result of the treatment and any other child affected by that birth. This paper presents the findings of an empirical study examining the impact on practice of the controversial reform of this section in 2008. While the broad values underpinning section 13(5) appear well embedded in clinic staff's engagement with ethical issues, there is little evidence that practice has been influenced by the 2008 amendments. A complex picture emerged regarding the implementation of section 13(5), particularly in its interaction with other factors, such as funding criteria and professional norms around counselling, implying a higher level of ongoing attention to likely parenting ability – particularly that of single women – than might be expected from a reading of the statute and guidance alone.     

Intimate sexual violence in the United States: Social work and family therapy interventions

Abstract

This article defines what is meant by intimate sexual violence and provides a brief historical context to this phenomenon. The incidence and impact of intimate sexual violence are clarified and discussed, as are the various factors contributing to this abusive behaviour. Current literature on intimate sexual violence in the United States is reviewed and differing approaches to responding to incidents of intimate sexual violence are identified as they might inform assessment and treatment options.

Taking intimate sexual violence seriously has implications for contraceptive counselling, abortion counselling, mental health counselling and family therapy. The article aims to inform practitioners of the essential issues surrounding intimate sexual violence, so that whenever intimate sexual violence is suspected, the social worker or family therapist can assess and intervene in a responsive and effective manner.     

There is no “I” in “a team of lawyers”: an evaluation of student perceptions of group assessment within legal higher education

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on the use of group assessments within higher education (HE) as a form of summative assessment, and the experiences of students in relation to this assessment tool. Group assessment is becoming a very common feature of undergraduate HE courses, with an “explosion” of group assessment in more recent years. This paper chooses to focus on the use of group assessment within the discipline of law, specifically the use of summative group assessment within a law discipline at a Russell Group University. Although this paper follows numerous other studies and reviews of group work and group assessment, it has been noted that there remains a lack of qualitative studies on students’ perspectives on group assessment. This paper progresses the literature to date by collecting qualitative insights. In particular, the paper focuses on key aspects of student experience such as building group relationships, and the fear and uncertainty of being assessed as part of a group. Group assessment can be introduced readily by staff without always considering the complexity of group work and its related issues and this can potentially lead to negative student experiences. Therefore, this paper also aims to highlight the benefits to student experience of well-planned group assessment that is appropriately set.     

Privacy and the precautionary principle

The precautionary principle – which implies that where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing protective measures – has been adopted as a standard of environmental and health protection in international and European legislation. This article offers an overview of the precautionary principle as a legal standard applicable to European privacy and data protection legislation. For this reason, it takes particularly into account the guidelines of this legislation as well as the privacy impact assessment framework, raised by the European Commission through the Recommendation on Radio-Frequency Identification applications. In brief, the article stresses the role of the precautionary principle in improving privacy protection through liability, prudence and transparency.     

Sorting out smart surveillance

Surveillance is becoming ubiquitous in our society. We can also see the emergence of “smart” surveillance technologies and the assemblages (or combinations) of such technologies, supposedly to combat crime and terrorism, but in fact used for a variety of purposes, many of which are intrusive upon the privacy of law-abiding citizens. Following the dark days of 9/11, security and surveillance became paramount. More recently, in Europe, there has been a policy commitment to restore privacy to centre stage. This paper examines the legal tools available to ensure that privacy and personal data protection are respected in attempts to ensure the security of our society, and finds that improvements are needed in our legal and regulatory framework if privacy is indeed to be respected by law enforcement authorities and intelligence agencies. It then goes on to argue that privacy impact assessments should be used to sort out the necessity and proportionality of security and surveillance programmes and policies vis-à-vis privacy.     

重大事项社会稳定风险评估的法治保障研究

重大事项社会稳定风险评估机制是从源头预防和控制社会稳定风险、维护社会稳定的重要保障,开展重大事项社会稳定风险评估是建设法治政府的必然要求。在分析影响当前社会稳定的各种因素的基础上,本文认为,完善群体性事件预警机制,建立起与重大事项社会稳定风险评估相一致的法律保障制度,是实现社会良性治理的重要途径。     

Land-based negative emissions: risks for climate mitigation and impacts on sustainable development

This paper focuses on the risks associated with “negative emissions” technologies (NETs) for drawing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and storing it in land-based sinks or underground. Modelled mitigation pathways for 1.5 °C assume NETs that range as high as 1000 Gt CO₂. We argue that this is two to three times greater than the amount of land-based NETs that can be realistically assumed, given critical social objectives and ecological constraints. Embarking on a pathway that assumes unrealistically large amounts of future NETs could lead society to set near-term targets that are too lenient and thus greatly overshoot the carbon budget, without a way to undo the damage. Pathways consistent with 1.5 °C that rely on smaller amounts of NETs, however, could prove viable. This paper presents a framework for assessing the risks associated with negative emissions in the context of equity and sustainable development. To do this, we identify three types of risks in counting on NETs: (1) that NETs will not ultimately prove feasible; (2) that their large-scale deployment involves unacceptable ecological and social impacts; and (3) that NETs prove less effective than hoped, due to irreversible climate impacts, or reversal of stored carbon. We highlight the technical issues that need to be resolved and—more importantly—the value judgements that need to be made, to identify the realistic potential for land-based NETs consistent with social and environmental goals. Given the critical normative issues at stake, these are decisions that should be made within an open, transparent, democratic process. As input, we offer here an indicative assessment of the realistic potential for land-based NETs, based on a precautionary assessment of the risks to their future effectiveness and a provisional assessment of the extent to which they are in conflict with sustainable development goals related to land, food and climate.