“Remember, data is property. How are you getting the data? Did it involve a contract right? Are there copyright issues in what you’re doing or what you’ve created? Do you need copyright protection, or are you using someone else’s copyrighted work? Is that taken into account? Is there a nondisclosure agreement for what you’ve got your hands on? Remember, the law is looking at this in however it can protect both the person who wants to use the data and the person whose data it is. At the end of the day, Penn State has so much to gain from this. When I talk about all these things, it sounds like a maze. How do you navigate it? What do you do? Remember that there are resources here, and those resources are undergoing a positive sea change — with the new Office of Information Security — that is going to be beneficial for faculty and researchers.”
-- Anne T. McKenna, visiting professor of law at Penn State, presented “Data: Risks, Responsibilities, and Rights” at the Institute for CyberScience Advanced Cyber Infrastructure (ICS-ACI) User Social on Feb. 22. Previously, McKenna chaired the cyber and privacy law group at the firm of Silverman/Thompson/Slutkin/White (STSW). She has practiced extensively in matters involving data practices, data breach, website privacy policies, and geolocation tracking, and she is the co-author of "Wiretapping and Eavesdropping: Surveillance in the Internet Age," a widely cited treatise in the field of privacy law.
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