For Immediate Release June 17, 2005

For More Information Contact: Rich Schneider, 317-278-4564 rcschnei@iupui.edu

IUPUI Expert to Examine What's Happening to Privacy in Washington, D.C. Briefing

Sandra Petronio, author of "Boundaries of Privacy: Dialectics of Disclosure."

INDIANAPOLIS - An IUPUI expert in the field of communication will brief members of congress and others on privacy at a Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) sponsored seminar Thursday, June 23, 2005 in Washington, D.C.

Sandra Petronio, will discuss "Paradoxes of Privacy: Health and Security Policy Implications" during a two hour seminar entitled, "Protecting Privacy: How Much Are We Willing to Give Up?"

One of a series of Congressional seminars sponsored by COSSA, with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, it will be held from 12 noon to 2 p.m. in Room B369 in the Rayburn House Office Building.

COSSA is an advocacy organization supported by more than 100 professional associations, scientific societies, universities and research institutions.

Petronio and two other speakers will explore what's happening to privacy in an era of rapidly advancing technology and lightning-speed communication. Is the sphere of personal privacy shrinking?  Are governments and the private sector seeking too much information about us? How much privacy are people willing to give up?  

While identity theft has been brought to the forefront of the policy agenda, the issue of privacy goes broader and deeper than this problem alone, experts say.  Questions about privacy protection have significant implications for public policies such as the Patriot Act, Health Privacy regulations, conducting the U.S. Census, and database protection legislation.  

Petronio has focused on applied research in interpersonal, family, and health communications, developing her own theoretical model for understanding how people manage their private information. Known as the theory of Communication Privacy Management (CPM), it is the culmination of a 25-year research effort that addresses issues of how individuals, groups, families, and organizations regulate the disclosure of private information in various contexts and relationships.

A book Petronio wrote, "Boundaries of Privacy: Dialectics of Disclosure," won the International Association for Relationship Research Book Award in 2004.

The other two speakers are Kenneth Prewitt, Columbia University and former U.S. Census Bureau director, who will discuss "P rivacy and Information Collection:  Impacts on Public Policy," and Daniel Solove, George Washington Law School, who will discuss "The Digital Person: Technology and Privacy in the Information Age."

COSSA, established in 1981, lobbies Congress and the Executive Branch on issues affecting the social science portfolios of the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Justice, Labor, and many other federal agencies. ###