Hailey Caram 

Visit PrivacyRights.org to see the types of publicly available information about data breaches.  How might researchers use this information to study breaches?  What branch or branches of Social Science do you think would benefit the most from a site hosting this information?

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse synthesizes several types of publicly available information about data breaches (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, n.d.). Users can explore total affected by data breaches, how many data breaches are tracked, the organization that is victim to the data breach, the location of the data breach, and the date of the breach. The type of breach is also publicly available information. Users also have access to the kind of information involved in the breach. Researchers may use this information to analyze the types of organizations that are most often targeted, as well as how the data is being breached. Information about data breaches can also guide researchers in attempts to prevent future breaches. 

This information is relevant to many social sciences, but most directly relate to economics, law, and education. Data breaches can be costly, resulting in a possible loss of revenue for businesses or individuals. Therefore, a public site hosting this information benefits economics and can prevent financial loss. Increased knowledge and information about data breaches can help researchers and experts prevent data breaches that happen as a result of hacks or cybercrime. Additionally, not all data breaches are malicious, and many occur due to poor policies and a lack of oversight. Law experts can utilize this information to improve policies and institute a proper framework. Lastly, since so many data breaches are non-malicious, educators can benefit from this information and develop more effective training to prevent against data breaches. This may help to prevent breaches that occur due to poor security practices.

References

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. (n.d.). Home Data Breach Chronology. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Retrieved June 8, 2025, from https://privacyrights.org/data-breaches