The changing dynamics of the digital world have led to several privacy challenges for businesses, large and small. This is placing increasing pressure on them to evolve their processes and strategies. Much of the burden stems from the sheer volume of data present today, and in fact, the volume of data is predicted to balloon to 175 zettabytes (ZB) by 2025. Today, it is simply beyond human capability to effectively process and protect privacy without the assistance of privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs). This has led to an explosion of adaptive machine learning (ML) algorithms that can wade through the mountain of data while continuously and efficiently changing their behavior in real-time as new data streams are fed into them.

The pervasiveness of and increasing authority vested in artificial intelligence and autonomous systems has created tremendous anxiety amongst the public. This has led to industry- and academic-based initiatives to address ethics in AI/AS through research and public engagement. The IEEE Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in the Design of Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems is one such initiative designed to support engineers and serve as a springboard for developing operational IEEE Standards in AI ethics. Last week the IEEE Global Initiative released version one of its working reference, entitled "Ethically Aligned Design: A Vision for Prioritizing Human Wellbeing with Artificial Intelligence and Autonomous Systems." I had the honor of working with experts in information privacy and contributing to the Personal Data and Individual Access Control Committee.