Talk:Privacy

--Jack Richins 22:06, 19 Oct 2004 (PDT) I think 4. is quite interesting. It seems when ever you create an account on any web site, with any service (on the web and off), you are sacrificing privacy. Even when offline, you get a hair cut, make a purchase at a store, and they ask for your phone number or zip code. This information goes into a database. What if we could have DRM for our private information? What if we could enforce that they could have our phone number, but couldn't share it with anyone else. And we didn't have to trust the store - either the system would enforce it or we could at least verify who broke their promise if our information got leaked and we could prosecute under either contract law or privacy law.

[Tolba] I believe idea 3 is quite interesting. It would be useful to figure out the impact of Anonymizers in obscuring the internet traffic of suspicious groups. This could lead to exploring both technical and non-technical measures of breaking the cycle.

--Santeri Voutilainen I think 4 is definitely interesting and there's a connection between it and 5. Businesses collect phone numbers and zipcodes for a variety of reasons, some of which are definitely beneficial to the consumer as well, such as helping to determine whether the chain should open a new store in some neighborhood. Seems like businesses would stand to benefit greatly, through increased information and people's willingness to provide accurate information, if the businesses would tell the customers what the information will be used for AND were able to guarantee/prove to the customer that the information will not and can not be used in other ways.

--Ted Zuvich I'm quite interested in this one, and have already put my name on the short list for this topic. Please contact me if you are interested in collaborating.

--Santeri Voutilainen Another privacy related topic could be E-Passports which the US is moving towards even though the technology apparently isn't fully proven both in technological terms and privacy concerns. ZDNet article on E-Passports

--Ryan Kaneshiro I'm interested in this one as well. RFID chips might be an broad enough subtopic. In addition to their use in E-Passports, there was a fuss last year over Benetton including the chips in their clothing. During the recent mad cow scare, I believe RFID was suggested as a means of tracking livestock.

Privacy and the Internet

(User: John Peterson) I am interested in privacy, generally. It seems to me that the advent of databases, the internet, and other technical capabilities have exacerbated existing problems of the average citizen with regard to personal privacy. We are all presently in an extremely vulnerable position to governmental and private snooping and surveillance. Should there be a federal privacy statute similar to the EU omnibus approach? Are our existing laws sufficient to protect us? Have domestic military related surveillance technologies become a threat to the citizenry's ability to protect its privacy? Should commercial interests be able to "profile" us like so many commodities for sale? What can we as citizens do to preserve our privacy rights? Students interested in this line of research are welcome to join me in a common endeavor. Thanks to Jim Jantos for his co-sponsoring this research.

Final Outline for Privacy and the Internet

(User: John) I like the outline. My only suggestion would be to add a separate conclusory section that summarizes our recommendations from both a technological as well as legal perspective. We are fortunate to have such a great mix of backgrounds for this project. I recently obtained a Seattle Times news article (Nov. 7, 2004, p A16) called "Electronic Blacklists Raise Alarms," regarding corporate created databases collecting confidential information on individual retail customers. Perhaps, this article can be of use to our team. I also have a power point document called Cybersecurity: What Law Should Govern? It was prepared for the Univ. of Houston Law Center. I have a Dutch associate who can assist us with a clearer understanding of the E.U. approach to these privacy matter. His name is Emile Snidgers. He should make a valuable resource. Thanks for the efforts, guys!