What did Professor Nissenbaum emphasize about data sharing in online environments?

• A. The presence of encryption.
• B. The ability to select and control the context.
• C. The time of day.
• D. The size of the company collecting data.

Answer: (B)

Contextual integrity is the idea that privacy depends on information flowing in ways that fit the social context. In online environments, what matters most is the ability to select and control the context in which data is shared. People expect data to move within the boundaries and norms of a given situation—for example, medical information staying within a healthcare context or data shared with a service provider only for the purposes stated—and to be re-consented or re-contextualized if that context changes. Encryption protects data, but it doesn’t determine whether sharing aligns with those context-specific norms. The time of day or the size of the company don’t determine whether the data sharing respects the appropriate context.