What is a privacy incident?

In this research project, a privacy incident is:

• An instance of accidental or unauthorized collection, use or exposure of sensitive information about an individual

OR

• An event that creates the perception that unauthorized collection, use or exposure of sensitive information about an individual may happen

AND

• Information that is either being collected, used or shared in digital form

Why do we need a database?

With a shared database we can answer questions like, "What is the most common cause of privacy incidents?”, “How do privacy incidents vary by country?” and “Which entities (e.g. companies, governments, etc.) are most commonly involved in privacy incidents) in a repeatable, transparent manner. In this initial phase, the database is not public and contributions are by invitation only, but eventually it will be publicly accessible and crowd-sourced to ensure broad coverage of privacy incidents.

What can I do with the database?

Analytics: Understand trends and frequency rates through data visualizations. [More coming soon!]

Download: Grab a csv of the incidents to do your own analysis. [Coming soon!]