The next topic we will take up is privacy. (We aren’t through with property; we will circle back to that.) Our first question is about what privacy is, and why (if?) it matters.
Before starting the reading, take a few minutes to write down what you think of around privacy. What does the word bring to mind?
Start the reading with [Rac75]. More pointers will appear here shortly.
From chapter 7 of the textbook, read the second and third selections, by Markey and by Elgesem. (First selection is optional.)
I have observed that most discussions about privacy come at it from one of two directions. The first is the potential intrusion by private parties, whether individuals or businesses. The second is the potential intrusion by government or similar authorities; this latter category sometimes shows up under the heading of “surveillance.”
In July 2010, the Wall Street Journal published a series of articles under the heading “What do they know?”, now collected online. See especially the two opinion pieces under “The Great Privacy Debate”, by Jim Harper and Nicholas Carr. The original series of articles is worth a look (though the links are buried toward the bottom center of the page).
The readings this week and next will turn in the direction of surveillance and control. Read enough of the CALEA and Clipper material to understand the issues at the time; think about how this has come forward to the present.
For a start, we will look back at a debate in the 1990s surrounding wiretapping and telephony. An introduction and collection of position statements were published as [D+93] in Communications of the ACM in 1993. Start there; you should be aware that the Commuications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) was passed in 1994. You can find some updates from the advocacy groups EFF and EPIC.
An important piece of context for the CALEA debate is that at the time the export controls on encryption software were very restrictive: a web browser capable of HTTPS at the time fell under munitions export control. A proposal was made for an encryption mechanism, commonly called “Clipper,” that provided a mechanism for decryption by law enforcement; part of the proposal would make export of that technology easy, while maintaining strict controls on other forms of encryption. See Whitfield Diffie’s Congressional testimony for a good overview. See also a 1998 Washington Post article on encryption policy and Phil Zimmerman’s statement “Why I Wrote PGP”.
Do take time to view the BBC Click! video “Who owns your personal data?”, suggested by Daniel Turkington.
Read through the USACM statement on privacy. (USACM is the ACM’s U.S. public-policy branch.)
Suggested: an article from this weekend’s NYT magazine on how information is collected and used for marketing.
Within the next two weeks, read these as well:
Additional suggested reading: I have marked a shelf in the lounge for this class, and I have placed my copies of several recent books there, in case you care to browse. See the readings page for a list. My copy of the IEEE Technology and Society issue on surveillance is there as well.