An Enquiry Concerning Personal Information.
Legislative trends from the 117th Congress beg the question; can you, indisputably, to the a consistent effect, define “personal information”?
by J. Bentham
“Pacific Airways flight 117 will begin boarding momentarily, all passengers are requested to standby gate B7.”
The jarring voice disrupts the calm. The first you’ve had in days. Your eyelids flicker, proving to be ineffective shade from the fluorescent overheads. A lead-footed toddler is a pint-size stampede, shaking the row of connected navy blue seats. You regret not walking going to the lounge, as pressed for time as you were.
You open your eyes, abandoning your poor attempt of rest, but not yet giving up your laz-y-boy like posture. Two seats to your left, a pair of expertly laced oxfords. Burnt Sienna, Windsor & Newton would describe. An oversized Movado plays coy underneath a sharp, starched cuff. The hand holding a newspaper suggests a life unburdened by physical labour.
This man wants to be seen.
Is he even reading that?
As if to answer your question; the shuffle of newsprint. Folding in half, quarters, closed.
“Zuck’s going to bring the entire market down with him.”, the man offers, placing the paper on the seat next to you, precisely angled for your own legibility: The Economist. You offer back a respectful “ha, yeah.” Don’t get judgemental, you tell yourself.
“Pacific Airways flight 117 would now like to welcome all First and Business passengers.”
You creak into an upright position, compose yourself. The man reaches forwards to his Very Gentlemanly Leather Weekender. You do the same, awkwardly in sync. Watch me be sitting next to this man. You know you’re making this weird. Tell him you like his shoes. Ask him about his watch. But you don’t want to give him that satisfaction. Because its kind of like when you say goodbye to someone and they end up going to same direction as you anyway.
You turn to mumble out something self-deprecating and kind. But the man is still sitting.
“I’m stuck in C… you?”
A pause. The man makes eye contact, locking them as he taps open his unblemished phone. This is… is he blushing? With a grimace, the man sharply gestures forward. The universal sign for ‘fuck off’.
You recoil, subtly; surprised, maybe amused. The man leans back, stretches out his legs. You try to signal some sort of “Oh, I’m sorry, I just assumed…”. This man does not want me to see him. You turn to head to the gate agent. Should have complimented those Burnt Sienna kicks. The man would have liked to know that you like them. That you see him. That you appreciate him. That you respect his insecurities.
But it’s best you leave him alone.
Evaluative Expressions
What do you take personally? Seriously, when was the last time you let something emotionally get to do, objectively knowing you are looking for the worst in someone?
Now, if you knew something about that person, a thing in which they themselves prefer to keep private, would your reaction have been to any different effect? Probably not. One is interpretative, another factual. This person clearly does not care enough, perhaps is beginning to ghost me, replying hours later. Or, this person was busy with a work-related obligation.
To some, sharply dressed aesthetic statements and a learned reading interests broadcast a well-to-do lifestyle, while the subject of income is strictly off the table. Is income personal information? If you take it personally, sure. This is the nature of evaluative expressions; legislation cannot define something so highly subjective because it cannot be put into non-disputable terms.
Recent bills introduced in the Congressional term exemplify the discord, and even further, illustrate that the capacity for what qualifies as “personal information” is so unreasonably expansive that if one were to compile all the definitions, “personal information” can be anything. In doing just that, it’s clear that at this rate, everything could be personal.
Below are seven bills from the House and Senate, proposed within the past six months, and include personal information within their definitions. The encapsulating term varies– protected information, sensitive information, user data, covered information, identifying information– perhaps adding to the dissonance, but nonetheless, they all concern the same “thing”.
S 3627
Feb. 10, 2022
Referred to Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-LA
DELETE Act
Data Elimination and Limiting Extensive Tracking and Exchange Act
To establish a centralized system to allow individuals to request the simultaneous deletion of their personal information across all data brokers, and for other purposes.
9. PERSONAL INFORMATION
Any information held by a data broker linked or reasonably linked to an individual or device.
Offline Identifiers: State-issued ID card number, driver’s license number, passport number, or any number on government-issued ID card. Name, alias, home or other physical address.
Digital Identifiers: IP address, email address, account name, geolocation, web browsing history, search queries, device identifier, online identifier, persistent identifier, digital fingerprint.
Financial: bank account number, credit and/or debit card number, insurance policy number.
Communications: Contents, attachments, recepents, sent through email, text, picture messages, voicemails, audio conversations, video conversations.
Health: Biometrics, genetic sequencing information (!).
Individual Profiling: Generated through inferences drawn through the above information used to create an individual profile including their;
Psychological trends, predispositions, behavior, attitudes, intelligence, abilities, aptitudes, references, and characteristics.
Linked or reasonably linkable information.
Any other information determined appropriate by the Commission.
WHO
Individual or consumer device.
HOW
Collected, inferred, created, or obtained.
Algorithmic Accountability Act of 2022
To direct the Federal Trade Commission to require impact assessments of automated decision systems and augmented critical decision processes, and for other purposes.
11. IDENTIFYING INFORMATION
name
postal address
email address
IP address
telephone number
biometrics
social security number
any other identifying number, identifier, code.
WHO
household
consumer
consumer device
HOW
collected
inferred
predicted
obtained
Banning Surveillance Advertising Act of 2022
To prohibit targeted advertising by advertising facilitators and advertisers, and other purposes.
13. PERSONAL INFORMATION
Data linked, or reasonably linkable, to an individual or connected device.
Data that is inferred or derived from other collected data.
Contents of communications.
Internet browsing history and online activity.
Ad-oriented unique ID.
WHO
Individual: [undefined]
Connected device: any electronic equipment designed for, or marketed to, consumers, that is capable of any communication connectivity, and capable of sending, receiving, or processing personal information.
HOW
Ad dissemination: the transmission, display, or dissemination of ads electronically or through communication by wire or radio.
Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act of 2021
To improve the safety and security of the Federal judiciary.
10. (2) COVERED INFORMATION
Data linked, or reasonably linkable, to an individual or connected device.
misc.: personal email
full DOB
bank account, debit, credit card information
home address: primary or secondary residences.
phone numbers: personal mobile, Government-issued cell, private extension in Chambers.
immediate family: identification of children under 18, name and address of school, day care facility, or employer.
info on property tax records: home address, secondary residence(s), investment propert(y)ies
info on vehicle registration record: license plate number, home or other address.
photograph of: “any vehicle” that displays the license plate.
photograph of: “a residence” that displays its address.
WHO
A Federal judge, including those retired, recalled, or senior.
HOW
Use of social media, free or inexpensive online access to information, data broker.
HR 6083
Dec. 01, 2021
House Energy and Commerce Committee, referred to subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce
Rep. Lisa Blunt-Rochester, D-DE-At-Large, and Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, R-OH
DETOUR Act
Deceptive Experiences to Online Users Reduction Act
To prohibit the use of exploitative and deceptive practices by large online operators and to promote consumer welfare in the use of behavioral research by such providers.
10. USER DATA
Any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual user.
WHO
Any individual who engages with an online service.
HOW
Dark patterns [1] and consumer segmentation.
HR 5807
Dec. 01, 2021
House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on Science, Space, and Technology; referred to Subcommittee on Research and Technology
Rep. Filemon Vela, D-TX
DATA Privacy Act
Digital Accountability and Transparency to Advance Privacy Act
To establish national data privacy standards in the United States, and for other purposes.
10. USER DATA
Any information collected, processed, stored, or disclosed.
Protected Characteristic: Race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, nationality, religious belief, age, or disability status.
Sensitive Data: any covered data relating to:
Health, biologic, physiologic, biometric, sexual life, or genetic information,
Precise geolocation.
3. COVERED DATA
Any information that is;
Collected, processed, stored, or disclosed.
Collected over the internet or other digital network.
Linked to an individual or device.
Practically linkable to an individual or device, by combination with separate information.
WHO
[undefined]
HOW
Collect: any operation or set of operations to obtain data, including by automated means;
Purchasing, leasing, assembling, recording, gathering, acquiring, or procuring.
