Rewards Points vs. Privacy | Stats + Short Stories Episode 262 / by Stats Stories

Claire McKay Bowen (@clairemkbowen)) is a principal research associate in the Center on Labor, Human Services, and Population and leads the Statistical Methods Group at the Urban Institute. Her research focuses on developing and assessing the quality of differentially private data synthesis methods and science communication. In 2021, the Committee of Presidents of Statistical Societies identified her as an emerging leader in statistics for her technical contributions and leadership to statistics and the field of data privacy and confidentiality. She is also a member of the Census Scientific Advisory Committee and the Differential Privacy Working Group, an advisory board member of the Future of Privacy Forums, and an adjunct professor at Stonehill College.

Episode Description

Everyone can relate to being in a rush and needing to get just one last item from the store. However, upon reaching the checkout line, after being asked the all too often refrain of, “can I get your loyalty card or phone number” you may wonder why is this information so important to a store. The annoyance and potential ramifications of giving up your data so freely is the focus of this episode of Stats+Stories with guest Claire McKay Bowen. Check out her full article in Significance Magazine now.

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Stats and Stories is a partnership between Miami University’s Departments of Statistics, and Media, Journalism and Film, and the American Statistical Association. You can follow us on Twitter, Apple podcasts, or other places you can find podcasts. If you’d like to share your thoughts on the program send your email to statsandstories@miamioh.edu or check us out at statsandstories.net, and be sure to listen for future editions of Stats and Stories, where we discuss the statistics behind the stories and the stories behind the statistics.