Technologies for Privacy and Controlled Access to Sensitive Data

DARPA announced plans today to research and develop tools for online privacy, one of the most vexing problems facing the connected world as devices and data proliferate beyond a capacity to be managed responsibly. Named for former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis, who while a student at Harvard law school co-developed the concept of a “right to privacy” in a seminal article under that title, the new program seeks to explore how users can understand, interact with and control data in their systems and in cyberspace through the expression of simple intentions that reflect purpose, acceptable risk and intended benefits such as "only share photos with approved family and friends.”

How can society responsibly reap the benefits of big data while protecting individual privacy?