Automated consent through privacy agents: Legal requirements and technical architecture

The changes imposed by new information technologies, especially pervasive computing and the Internet, require a deep reflection on the fundamental values underlying privacy and the best way to achieve their protection. The explicit consent of the data subject, which is a cornerstone of most data protection regulations, is a typical example of requirement which is very difficult to put into practice in the new world of “pervasive computing” where many data communications necessarily occur without the users' notice. In this paper, we argue that an architecture based on “Privacy Agents” can make privacy rights protection more effective, provided however that this architecture meets a number of legal requirements to ensure the validity of consent delivered through such Privacy Agents. We first present a legal analysis of consent considering successively (1) its nature; (2) its essential features (qualities and defects) and (3) its formal requirements. Then we draw the lessons of this legal analysis for the design of a valid architecture based on Privacy Agents. To conclude, we suggest an implementation of this architecture proposed in a multidisciplinary project involving lawyers and computer scientists.     

The methodological struggles of racial profiling research: a causal question that automobile stop data has yet to answer

Automobile stop research finds that citizen race influences officer decision-making. Researchers, however, report methodological issues inhibiting them from drawing causal inferences about the existence of racial profiling. The purpose of this study is to deconstruct this field of inquiry through a causal lens to inform the next generation of scholarship. Through an analysis of automobile stop data, temporal ordering issues are exposed. Relating to association, most studies find that racial minorities are more likely to be searched, however, spuriousness issues continue to plague racial profiling studies as researchers rarely estimate departmental, passenger, vehicle, and temporal variables. To confront these issues, researchers are encouraged to engage in primary data collection and explore recent statistical innovations in their analytical strategies.     

Dispositional Mindfulness Moderates the Relationship Between Occupational Stressors and Perceived Stress Among Law Enforcement Personnel

Law enforcement personnel (LEPs) experience occupational stressors that can result in poor health outcomes and have a negative impact on the communities they serve. Dispositional mindfulness, or receptive awareness and attention to present moment experience, has been shown to negatively predict perceived stress and to moderate the relationship between stressors and negative stress-related outcomes. The current study is an investigation of the moderating role of specific facets of dispositional mindfulness (i.e., nonreactivity, nonjudging, and acting with awareness) in the relationship between occupational stressors and perceived stress in a sample of LEPs. As hypothesized, nonreactivity significantly moderated the relationship between operational stressors and perceived stress, such that LEPs low in nonreactivity exhibited a significant relationship between stressors and perceived stress, whereas those high in nonreactivity did not. Nonjudging also moderated the relationship between organizational stressors and perceived stress; however, unexpectedly, LEPs high in nonjudging evidenced a significant relationship between stressors and perceived stress, whereas those low in nonjudging did not. Potential implications of these findings for LEP stress reduction interventions are discussed.     

This urgent need to publish

These remarks were prepared for the twenty-fifth anniversary of Transaction/SOCIETY and delivered on November 10, 1987, at Brower Commons, Rutgers—The State University of New Jersey.     

History of Traumatic Abuse and HIV Risk Behaviorsin Severely Mentally Ill Substance Abusing Adults

Epidemiological studies in the United States estimate HIV seroprevalence rates ranging between 4% and 23% for serious mentally ill adults (SMIA; i.e., schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other chronic disorders with psychotic features), with substantially greater estimates for risky sexual behaviors. Among the most consistent factors linked to HIV risk in non-SMIA populations is a history of emotional, physical, or sexual abuse. The current study examined the intersection of abuse history and HIV sexual risk behavior in SMIAs with a group of men (n = 64) and women (n = 115) recruited from eight geographically diverse and representative clinical sites around Florida. A cross-sectional interview revealed a high prevalence of alcohol and other drugs problems, as well as a history of emotional, physical, or sexual abuse in 75% of the participants, with 68% of these reporting multiple types of abuse. Compared to nonabused counterparts, those with a history of abuse reported significantly greater: (a) lifetime and current psychiatric symptoms, (b) recent unprotected sexual intercourse, and (c) crack cocaine, heroin, and marijuana use. No gender differences were detected in the associations of abuse history and sexual risk behaviors. These results underscore the need for HIV prevention efforts targeted to SMIAs and the critical importance of addressing abuse history in interventions with this underserved population.     

Evaluation of non-metric variation in the crania of black and white perinates

Reports in the literature suggest that diagnostic differences in craniofacial morphology between blacks and whites arise very early in development. These reports, however, have not been consistent regarding which traits are diagnostic and have failed to provide forensic anthropologists with a reliable method of assessment. In an effort to clarify the situation, 13 non-metric craniofacial traits were scored and analyzed statistically in a sample of 70 black and white perinatal specimens obtained from the Smithsonian's fetal osteology collection. Chi-square analysis revealed significant (p<0.05) differences in the distribution of five of the 13 non-metric traits examined. Compared with black perinates, white perinates more frequently possessed a relatively narrow supraoccipital portion of the occipital bone, a prominent anterior nasal spine, "deep" subnasal margins, an elongated vomer, and semi-circular temporal squamae. When these five traits were entered into a stepwise logistic regression, temporal squamous shape, vomer shape and subnasal margin definition were found to be predictive of race (79.1% overall correct classification). An independent sample of 39 black and white perinates was then used to validate the results; overall, 67.5% of the validation sample could be classified correctly. Reasons for the disparity in correct classification rates between the initial and follow-up sample are provided. Results of the present study may be useful for anthropologists who encounter unidentified cranial material from this age range.     

Practical Issues in Implementing and Understanding Bayesian Ideal Point Estimation

Andrew Gelman Department of Statistics and Department of Political Science, Columbia University, New York, NY e-mail: gelman{at}stat.columbia.edu, www.stat.columbia.edu/~gelman/ David K. Park Department of Political Science, Washington University, St. Louis, MO e-mail: dpark{at}artsci.wustl.edu Noah Kaplan Department of Political Science, University of Houston, Houston, TX e-mail: nkaplan{at}uh.edu Logistic regression models have been used in political sciencefor estimating ideal points of legislators and Supreme Courtjustices. These models present estimation and identifiabilitychallenges, such as improper variance estimates, scale and translationinvariance, reflection invariance, and issues with outliers.We address these issues using Bayesian hierarchical modeling,linear transformations, informative regression predictors, andexplicit modeling for outliers. In addition, we explore newways to usefully display inferences and check model fit.