Ponemon Institute

Ponemon Institute conducts independent research on privacy, data protection and information security policy. Our goal is to enable organizations in both the private and public sectors to have a clearer understanding of the trends in practices, perceptions and potential threats that will affect the collection, management and safeguarding of personal and confidential information about individuals and organizations. Ponemon Institute research informs organizations on how to improve upon their data protection initiatives and enhance their brand and reputation as a trusted enterprise.

In addition to our research, Ponemon Institute provides strategic consulting to private and public sector organizations interested in establishing or enhancing their privacy, data protection, and security practices. To ensure that their goals are achieved, organizations engage us to assess their practices and conduct workshops and training programs.

Ponemon Institute is the parent organization of the Responsible Information Management (RIM) Council. The RIM Council draws its name from the practice of Responsible Information Management, an ethics-based framework and long-term strategy for managing personal and sensitive employee, customer and business information.

Members of the RIM Council represent a cross-section of Fortune 500 companies and are champions of privacy and data protection in their organizations. Through working groups and special projects, our RIM Council members create practical solutions to the privacy and data protection challenges faced by organizations.

Legislating Social Privacy

7/30/2010

There’s a great deal of talk these days about privacy and social media. Specifically, services like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other popular social networking platforms are coming under increased scrutiny over their privacy policies and data sharing practices. As I write this issue has the attention of a number of politicians in Washington, DC as Congress mulls new legislation addressing privacy concerns. The Ponemon Institute believes a big part of addressing issues of consumer privacy as they ...more

Blog

Legislating Social Privacy
July 30, 2010
There’s a great deal of talk these days about privacy and social media. Specifically, services like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and other popular social networking platforms are coming under increased scrutiny over their privacy policies and data sharing practices. Permalink

When Privileged Access is no longer a Privilege
July 19, 2010
I just read an interesting multi-part investigative report in the Washington Post about how intelligence gathering – and the bureaucracy that has risen since September 11, 2001 to facilitate the harvest and analysis of that information – has spun beyond the federal government’s control, not to mention its ability to make use of the sheer abundance of information. Permalink

Information Governance in the Cloud
July 15, 2010
Just a brief note to bring our recent webinar to your attention. I presented Information Governance in the Cloud along with the good people at Symantec. Permalink

News & Events

Ponemon Institute on DHS & Trusted Identities

We were asked by Federal Computer Week to offer our thoughts on Homeland Security's Trusted Identities program. Mike Spinney took up the challenge. You can read the results by clicking throught to his thoughtful essay at FCW.

Bob Barr Cites Privacy Trust Study in AJC

Former Libertarian Party presidential candidate and current Atlanta Journal Constitution columnist Bob Barr writes about (lack of) public trust in federal agencies and cites two 2010 Ponemon Institute studies. Click here to read Mr. Barr's thoughts on the subject.

U.S. Postal Service Tops Ponemon Institute List of Most Trusted Federal Agencies

TRAVERSE CITY, MI--June 30, 2010 – The United States Postal Service once again finds itself at the top of the Ponemon Institute’s list of most trusted federal agencies for privacy protection, according to the think tank’s 2010 Privacy Trust Study of the United States Government. The distinction represents the sixth consecutive time the Postal Service has earned top spot in the annual study.