Just how important is the digital frontier to the U.S. government? Very, apparently. The White House released a report on big data last week recommending modernizing the approach to scaled digital information, a move that highlights an increasingly aggressive agenda by the government on cyber issues.

The 85-page report titled "Big Data: Seizing Opportunities, Preserving Values" is the result of a 90-day study ordered by President Obama in January. Cautiously optimistic, the report emphasizes how important big data is to us in an increasingly connected world. It can empower social and economic change, but without the proper guidance, big data could potentially infringe on rights too.

The study encourages more legislation, extending privacy protections to non-U.S. citizens, and treating email with the same kind of respect the regular mail receives from the law. The focus is not on surveillance conducted by agencies such as the NSA, but rather on the tidbits of information collected by companies such as Google and Facebook.

The report suggests the following six discrete policies:

"Advance the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights.

The Department of Commerce should take appropriate consultative steps to seek stakeholder and public comment on big data developments and how they impact the Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights and then devise draft legislative text for consideration by stakeholders and submission by the President to Congress.

Pass National Data Breach Legislation.

Congress should pass legislation that provides for a single national data breach standard along the lines of the Administration's May 2011 Cybersecurity legislative proposal.

Extend Privacy Protections to non-U.S. Persons.

The Office of Management and Budget should work with departments and agencies to apply the Privacy Act of 1974 to non-U.S. persons where practicable, or to establish alternative privacy policies that apply appropriate and meaningful protections to personal information regardless of a person's nationality.

Ensure Data Collected on Students in School is Used for Educational Purposes.

The federal government must ensure that privacy regulations protect students against having their data being shared or used inappropriately, especially when the data is gathered in an educational context.

Expand Technical Expertise to Stop Discrimination.

The federal government's lead civil rights and consumer protection agencies should expand their technical expertise to be able to identify practices and outcomes facilitated by big data analytics that have a discriminatory impact on protected classes, and develop a plan for investigating and resolving violations of law.

Amend the Electronic Communications Privacy Act.

Congress should amend ECPA to ensure the standard of protection for online, digital content is consistent with that afforded in the physical world - including by removing archaic distinctions between email left unread or over a certain age."

You can read the full report here.