“Your papers, please.” – Anonymous
``I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed, or numbered!My life is my own.'' - No.6, from the television show The Prisoner
“Since the beginning of the year, threats to the personal sphere have beenexpanding, leading some to call privacy "the civil rights issue of the 21st century."
Dana Hawkins, “Privacy is Under Siege at Work, at Home and
Online” in US News & World Report 10/2/2000
What is Privacy?
Definitions
“Privacy has been described as “the claim of individuals, groups or institutions to determine for themselves when, how and to what extent information about themselves is communicated to others” – Harry Henderson, Privacy in the Information Age
“The Right to privacy includes a sense of autonomy, a right to develop a unique personality and living space, and a right to distinguish one’s own persona from everyone else’s” – David Brin, The Transparent Society
Areas of Privacy
“Observation (cameras, paparazzi)
Information (business, financial, medical, fingerprints, past criminal behavior)Communication (wiretap, Internet, mobile phones)
Behavior (sexual practices, abortion, contraception)
Tranquility per se (search and seizure)” – Gordon Brumm, from the Come Let Us Reason Together discussion program on police surveillance cameras
Americans are scrutinized, measured, watched, counted and interrogated by more government agencies, law enforcement officials, social scientists and polltakers than at any time in our history.
Probably in no nation on earth is as much information collected, recorded and disseminated as in the United States.
The information gathering and surveillance activities of the federal government have expanded to such an extent that they are becoming a threat to several basic rights of every American – privacy, speech, assembly, association, and petition of the government.” – Arthur Miller, The Surveillance Society
“There appears to be little limit to the desire for personal privacy. But, there probably is a limit to how much personal privacy any society can allow because privacy is an impediment to trust, and trust is the basic requirement for social order. The actual limits to privacy are the unknowable requirements for social solidarity. At some point, additional amounts of personal privacy make large communities or organizations unworkable. However, that limit would be reached only when it is no longer possible to trust the members of those communities or organizations. In other words, the limits to privacy are the limits of trust.” – Steven Nock, “Too Much Privacy?” from the Journal of Family Issues, January 1998
The Privacy Paradox
“Why do people tell pollsters they are alarmed about the loss of privacy, but then blithely give out their credit-card numbers over the Internet?Or sign consent forms that allow sensitive medical information to be seen by dozens of eyes?” – Charles Sykes, The End of Privacy“Privacy is like oxygen.We appreciate it only when it is gone.” – Charles Sykes, The End of Privacy
A Short History of Privacy
Privacy Before the 18th Century“Ancient Hebrew culture lacked privacy because, it was believed, any member's transgressions brought consequences from Yahweh. In such a tightly bound moral community, one's actions were viewed as having direct significance for all. Likewise, small bands of hunters or gatherers lacked privacy because every person must perform essential tasks in the hunting and gathering necessary for communal survival. Such societies depend on close monitoring and supervision to enforce essential conformity. The shirker could be shamed because he was known and observed. And that shame, we may presume, had the desired effect; the deviant was forced to leave the group or change his ways. In face-to-face groups, shame and monitoring are possible because there are no strangers (those without reputations). Everyone is known, more or less, by everyone. So the absence of privacy is correlated with the absence of strangers.” - Steven Nock, “Too Much Privacy?” from the Journal of Family Issues, January 1998
Privacy, the Eighteenth Century and the American Constitution
“The right of nature, which writers commonly call ius naturale, is the liberty each man has to use his own power as he will himself, for the preservation of his own nature, that is to say, of his own life, and consequently of doing anything which, in his own judgment and reason, he shall conceive to be the aptest means thereunto.” – Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, Ch. 14
“An Englishman’s dwelling House is his Castle.The law has erected a Fortification around it.” – John Adams, as quoted in Phillipa Strum’s Privacy: The Debate in the United States Since 1945“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable search and seizures, shall not be violated and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.” – US Constitution
Privacy in the 19th and 20th Centuries
“With urbanization and industrialization in the late 19th century, privacy increased for many reasons. First, an urban environment drew attention away from the intimate affairs of the family and toward public events. The increased mobility of the population, the separation of home and work, rising standards of respectability that stressed the individual, and Victorian attitudes toward sexuality all led to greater personal privacy. Moreover, the proliferation and diversity of new religious sects meant that people were less likely to share information about one another because they were members of different congregations. Growing acceptance of solitary living and an expansion of housing stock meant that by the turn of the 20th century, few people were living as boarders or lodgers. Technological changes also fostered greater privacy. The telephone, television, washer, dryer, air conditioner, and VCR make it less necessary for people to leave their homes and venture into public. Television, radio, and VCRs offer entertainment enjoyed behind closed doors. Washers and dryers mean that people no longer hang their laundry out to dry and now make fewer trips to laundries. Air conditioning reduces the need to sit on front porches and to visit public lakes, swimming pools, or parks. Telephones reduce the need to visit others in person. And refrigerators and freezers reduce the number of trips to the grocery (Popenoe, 1985).” - Steven Nock, “Too Much Privacy?” from the Journal of Family Issues, January 1998
“Don’t you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought?In the end we shall make thought crime literally impossible, because there will be no words in which to express it.” – a government official informing the lead character Winston Smith in George Orwell’s 1984
“Social critics of the 1950s and 60’s began to see the threat to the individual as coming, not from the focused propaganda of Big Brother, but from the pressures of conformity in the corporate workplace and at home in the relentless display of TV commercials.Privacy can be threatened overtly by police raids, covertly by phone taps and hidden cameras.Now came a warning that privacy could be threatened more insidiously, by homogenizing the individual, masking the unique inner self with a bland construct of images and desires.” – Harry Henderson, Privacy in the Information Age
Privacy & Technology
"Each time [throughout American history] when there was renewed interest in protecting privacy it was in reaction to new technology."- Robert Ellis Smith, Ben Franklin’s Web Site
“The introduction of cameras in the 1880s was a greater shock to Americans than the introduction of the Internet, because for the first time someone else could capture your image. For the first time, a person could see a representation of how he or she is perceived by others. Then came the introduction of Eastman's snap camera, which for the first time permitted a stranger to capture your image without consent. With the Internet came the possibility of circulating one's image globally without consent, where it could be cut and pasted in different, misleading contexts.” - from an Interview with Robert Ellis Smith
New Threats to Privacy
Identity Theft
“Identity Theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the US, with 500,000 victims a year.The cruder methods, such as digging through trash for credit card receipts, are being replaced.“Pretext calling,” in which people lie to get private data, is on the rise.Also, Net ads selling bank account searches are growing.Most victims may recoup lost money, but their credit ratings may suffer. – “Personal Data Theft on the Rise” from Investor’s Business Daily 9/15/00
“He used my information to open 35 accounts and racked up $100,000 worth of charges,” says Stephen Shaw.“He tagged me for everything under the sun – car loans, personal loans, bank accounts, stereos, furniture, appliances, clothes, airlines tickets.” – Simson Garfinkel, Database Nation
Cyber Stalking
“An estimated 200,000 Americans are being stalked right now. The overwhelming majority of them are women stalked by ex-boyfriends or ex-husbands. Now the Internet has become another weapon in the stalker's arsenal because it enables users worldwide to find personal information about you in a few simple keystrokes.” – Marie D’Amico, “Cyberstalking Via the Net,” Netguide, February 1997
“In a few hours, sitting at my computer, beginning with no more than your name and address, I can find what you do for a living, the names and ages of your spouse and children, what kind of car you drive, the value of your house, and how much you pay in taxes on it.I can uncover that forgotten drug bust in college.” – Carole Lane, Naked in Cyberspace“Forget the pager number and don't bother calling. One company is making it easier for folks to "track" anyone, by allowing them to pull up a map of the person's location on a personal digital assistant (PDA) or computer.” – Elisa Batista, “Signing Up to Be Surveilled” on wired.com
"When it's not something that is under the control of the user and when it's another person or organization that is tracking the individual without the individual's consent, then there are significant privacy issues," said David Sobel, an attorney for the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center. "They should be able to avoid that minute-by-minute physical surveillance." - Elisa Batista, “Signing Up to Be Surveilled” on wired.com
Examples:
Listing of public records available from government sources
http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.anybirthday.com/
Marketing Personal Information & Datamining
“The goal is to know so much about consumers that DoubleClick can read their minds--and charge advertisers premium rates for telling them when to send the perfect Internet ad or mailing” - Fred Vogelstein, “The Internet’s Busybody,” US News and World Report, 3/6/2000
"If you don't like Yahoo!'s privacy policy, you don't have to use its site. But it's very difficult for consumers to avoid DoubleClick because most don't know when it is collecting information," says Jason Catlett, president of Junkbusters, an Internet privacy group. He worries that most people won't realize that when they are giving information to, say, Alta Vista, they will be giving information to DoubleClick, too. Privacy advocates also object to DoubleClick's methods, because the firm assumes that consumers want their information collected unless they say otherwise. Critics say the assumption should be that consumers don't want their information collected unless they say otherwise.Doubleclick Case” – Fred Vogelstein, “The Internet’s Busybody,” US News and World Report, 3/6/2000
“Consumers who shop for the DVD Planet of the Apes -- The Evolution on Amazon.com Inc.'s Web site today could be charged as much as $10 more than other customers purchasing the same product at approximately the same time -- a practice the company described as a periodic test that it runs on the prices of certain items.” – Linda Rosencrance, Amazon Charging Different Prices on Some DVDs from ComputerWorld”DoubleClick, 24/7 Inc. and similar companies gather data automatically when a user visits a Web site, almost always without notifying the person or obtaining consent. The companies argue that they are not violating privacy because most of the information is collected anonymously – that is, they say they don't keep individual records with personally identifiable data without getting permission first. Still, users who want to "opt out" of the system must find the fine print on the Web site in order to learn how to remove themselves.” - John Schwartz, “Opting In: A Privacy Paradox” from the Washington Post
“It's one of the more puzzling conundrums of online life. While companies that capitalize on the Internet's powerful potential to invade privacy are denounced as villains of the information age, millions of people type out highly personal data and send it off to Web sites they've barely heard of, with no strong legal protection against misuse of the information.” - John Schwartz, “Opting In: A Privacy Paradox” from the Washington Post
“Yet anonymity is actually far harder to achieve in the online world than in the real one, said Patricia Wallace, executive director of the Center for Knowledge and Information Management at the University of Maryland. "In the store, you can choose to be anonymous," said Wallace, author of "Psychology of the Internet." "You can carry a lot of cash, refuse to respond when you're asked for your address and Zip code. Online you must use a credit card, and you will reveal a great deal of information about yourself." - John Schwartz, “Opting In: A Privacy Paradox” from the Washington Post
“Predictive is being closely watched by privacy advocates because, unlike many similar software companies, it is has struck deals with Internet service providers rather than individual Web sites.As a result, Predictive’s software can follow users of these ISPs everywhere on the Web, gaining insights into their ages, incomes, shopping preferences and hobbies.” – Stephanie Stoughton, “Tracking Firm Alarms Web Users,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, October 2, 2000
“In these computers, we are what the data says we are.” – Ashley Dunn, “The Fall and Rise of Privacy” from the New York Times, September 15, 1997
“By the truckload, Metromail [one of the world’s largest marketing firms] shipped the results of data to the Texas prison system where inmates entered the information into Metromail’s database, which includes information on more than 90% of the nation’s households.Many of the prisoners entrusted with the data were sex offenders.” – Nina Bernstein, “Personal Files Via Computer Offer Money and Pose Threat,” New York Times, June 12, 1997
“We lost some damn good programmers – pedophiles,” the director of the state prison complained afterward.“some of our best computer operatives were sex offenders.” – Nina Bernstein, “Personal Files Via Computer Offer Money and Pose Threat,” New York Times, June 12, 1997
Packet Grabbers & E.T. Apps
“He fired up zBubbles, and began surfing the Net; at the same time, he launched a “packet sniffer,” which examined the transmissions that were leaving his computer and going back over the Internet.He found they contained all kinds of information about him that zBubbles had culled as it trailed him online.What was in there?His home address, for one thing.It also sent back the titles of DVDs he was considering buying on Buy.com.His computer was even relaying information about an airline flight he had booked for his 14-year-old daughter.It was creepy,” says Smith.ZBubbles has good reason for sending some of that information back to Alexa.To help with e-shopping, it has to know the sites it visits and the products he sees there.But zBubbles apparently spies even when users aren’t shopping: Smith was just double-checking his daughter’s plane reservation when zBubbles grabbed the flight number and sent it home.” – Adam Cohen, “Spies Among Us” from Time Digital
“It’s one flash of the modem light.Who would even notice?” says William Cheswick, chief scientist at Lucent Technologies – Adam Cohen, “Spies Among Us” from Time Digital
Cookies
“The cookies deposited on your computer leave a data trail that reveals a lot about you--your surfing habits, your interests, clues about your finances and perhaps about your medical history. Each click on a page in a Web site may be added to your profile in a database--databases that are coveted by advertisers and marketers.” – Sean O’Neill, “Prying Eyes,” Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, August 2000
“Some common uses for Internet cookies are:An anonymous code given to you so the web site operator can see how many users return at a later time. These cookies are configured to stay on your system for months or years and are called "persistent" cookies.
A code identifying you. This usually occurs after a registration. The site could keep a detailed account of pages visited, items purchased, etc. and even combine the information with information from other sources once they know who you are.
A list of items you purchased. This is often used in "shopping cart" web sites to keep track of your order. Often cookies of this type 'expire' as soon as you log out or after a short time. These are called "session" cookies.
Personal preferences. This can be anonymous or linked to personal information provided during a registration. “ – From “Bake Your Own Internet Cookie” at http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.privacy.net/
“Any Web site that uses cookies to authenticate users or store private information -- including Amazon.com, HotMail, Yahoo Mail, DoubleClick, MP3.com, NYTimes.com, and thousands of others -- could have cookies exposed by Internet Explorer and intercepted by a third-party Web site.” - Bennett Haselton, peacefire.org http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.peacefire.org/security/iecookies/
Imbedded ID Numbers in Computer Hardware
“Early this year, Intel announced that each new processor would be encoded with a unique serial number. Furthermore, said Intel, these serial numbers would be available to Web sites that want to identify their visitors. In other words, this "feature" represents a hardware equivalent of so-called Internet cookies.” – Kim Komando, “Inside the New Pentium III,” Popular Mechanics, May 1999
Medical Privacy
“Today there are no strong incentives to safeguard patient information because patients, industry groups and government regulators are not demanding protection.” – National Research Council Report on Medical Privacy
“In fact, what the Medical Information Bureau keeps in its computers is information about people.Specifically, every time you report a significant medical condition on an insurance application, the insurance company can report that condition to MIB.The next time you apply for insurance, your “new” insurance company will pull your MIB file and find out what you previously reported.” – Simson Garfinkel, Database Nation
“MIB is thus the official insurance agency gossip columnist.MIB helps make sure that if one life insurance company rejects a person on medical grounds, then other life insurance companies will be made aware of the ailment and reject that person as well. MIB has been the subject of ongoing controversy since the 1970s, when its existence first became generally known.At the root of the controversy is the organization’s penchant for secrecy.” - Simson Garfinkel, Database Nation
“The government runs its own huge database for Medicare patients.As part of an HMO reform proposal, the Clinton administration proposed a national databank in which every person would have a “universal health care identification number.”But the existence of a single central database accessible by a single key number will put all of a person’s privacy eggs in one single vulnerable basket.” – Harry Henderson, Privacy in the Information Age
“Columbia University professor Paul Clayton estimates that some emergency-room employees make more money from passing information about patients to attorneys in search of clients than they do from their paychecks.” – Charles Sykes, The End of Privacy“In January, CHCF analyzed 21 of the most visited health-related websites, including WebMD.com,MayoHealth.org, DrKoop.com and other general and disease-specific sites. Researchers first evaluated sites' privacy policies in the context of a set of "fair information practice principles" -- which are listed in the report -- and by going online as "typical consumers." “The report concludes that anonymity is a myth, and that many websites are willing participants in furnishing and selling information to third parties," AAPS officials said in a statement.” - Julie Foster “Online Health Privacy a Myth?Doctors Say information on 'Web Patients' Sold to Advertisers” from Worldnetdaily
Genetics & Privacy
“Icelanders are accusing their government of taking huge payments from the company licensed to create a genetic database of the country's entire population. Although trading money for influence is nothing new, critics are reacting harshly at least partly because the information involved is so sensitive. Then there's the matter of the government allegedly accepting money from deCODE Genetics, a biotech firm, even as it's trying to pass a genetics bill.” – Kristen Philipkoska, “Genetics Scandal Inflames Iceland” from Wired News
Cameras, Satellites and Surveillance
“Some of them – known as Keyhole Class satellite – can distinguish an object as small as five or six inches large on the ground.” – Charles Sykes, The End of Privacy
“ITS, which include automated toll-collection devices and other traffic management technologies, give authorities – and others – the power to keep track of anyone who moves.” – Charles Sykes, The End of Privacy
“The possibilities grow even more alarming if ITS information is linked with other law enforcement, medical, insurance, lifestyle or credit data. Linking travel data with other personal information will sharpen any profiles developed, making them much more precise, and that much more valuable to governments, direct marketers and others.” – Don Tapscott, Who Knows
“At Yale & Princeton, the comings and goings of students are monitored and recorded through around the clock electric key systems.Although a majority of Princeton’s students object to the system – on grounds of convenience as well as privacy – it is strongly supported by female students, who like the security it provides.” – Charles Sykes, The End of Privacy
Privacy in the Workplace
“There's precious little privacy left on the job. In most states, employers are entitled to--and increasingly do--read their workers' E-mail, conduct random drug tests, surreptitiously tape employees, monitor Web surfing--and even look into their workers' medical and genetic data. As work and home life become more intertwined, companies are requesting subpoenas to search workers' home computers for evidence. Employers say they have no choice but to ratchet up observation. Otherwise, they risk lawsuits stemming from the presence of sexually explicit, racist, or libelous material at work. Firms also are concerned about maintaining productivity with so many online distractions, safeguarding intellectual property, and preventing drug abuse. "Companies have to be more vigilant and restrictive in terms of the free speech of employees because they can be held responsible for it," says Stephen Paskoff, a consultant in Atlanta who advises companies on privacy. "The only place where you're safe from monitoring is in your private thoughts." The courts have agreed by overwhelmingly siding with employers in privacy cases.” -Dana Hawkins, “Privacy is Under Siege at Work, at Home and Online” in US News & World Report 10/2/2000“Here is a summary of "new millennium" privacy issues we will be grappling with:
1. Each worker's entire history of Internet usage: Web sites and chat rooms visited - and the size and nature of files downloaded - is instantaneously available to employers. Also, new software such as Spector surreptitiously takes every few seconds digital snapshots of whatever appears on the computer screen of each worker.
2. New programs can analyze the performance of workers based on several categories of data automatically monitored for each worker.
3. Workers' conversations with customers can be monitored to check for courtesy, correctness, of information and other factors, provided employees are told that their conversations might be monitored for such purposes.
4. Workers can be subject to "telephone call counting" to examine the time, duration and destination of all telephone calls at work.
5. It's easy to get an address history, verification of Social Security number, criminal check, driving history, civil check, credit report and past employment verification on job applicants. Some traditionally confidential records, such as school, military and medical records, are increasingly obtained without the knowledge of employees. Some state laws regulate their use, but in fact the records can be obtained via Internet services.
6. Drug testing could be widespread in the workplace, including random testing, probable cause testing (conducted after accidents, or in response to strange behavior or decreased performance), or reasonable suspicion (such as increased tardiness or absenteeism).
7. Video surveillance in the workplace and "active badges" are increasing. Video surveillance monitors the comings and goings of employees. Soon, very efficient cameras will be completely undetectable, tucked away behind small openings in the walls. This technology helps to monitor individual workers' performance, to improve customer service, to protect the company from liability claims and theft and to ensure that workers carry out their duties. Video monitoring, however, breeds a sense of mistrust, which could affect morale depending on how it is handled. It is also said to increase stress in workers. Its use in washrooms, locker rooms and dressing areas is certainly of great concern.” – John Alan Cohan, Privacy in the Workplace from Secured Lender, May/June 2000
"The dominant business model on the Internet is 'we must know you to serve you,'" Westin said. "And the dominant consumer model on the Internet is 'you can't know me unless I want you to.'" The two positions are on a collision course, and the CPO must make it his mission to fix that, he said.” - Chris Oakes, “Privacy Grows Up as CPOs Move In” from Wired.com
"If you think you can navigate the Internet without having a privacy guide, you're in big trouble," said Alan Westin, head of the new organization (Association of Corporate Privacy Officers). "You need somebody in front of the boat who knows how to look." – Chris Oakes, “Privacy Grows Up as CPOs Move In” from Wired.com
Privacy and the Government
“Perhaps the most extraordinary is the National Directory of New Hires, and Workers Database, which were created as part of immigration and welfare-reform legislation.Beginning October 1, 1997, private employers are required by law to tell the government the names, addresses, Social Security numbers and wages of every new employee, creating one of the most extensive “data dragnets” in history.” – Robert Pear, “Government to Use Vast Database to Track Deadbeat Parents, The New York Times, September 22, 1997
“For two months in 1997, the Social Security Administration put the detailed income history of millions of Americans on the Internet, where it could easily be accessed with a few pieces of information and keystrokes.” – Charles Sykes,The End of Privacy
“Dubbed the Know Your Customer Rule, the proposal by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) would have required banks to “develop programs designed to determine the identity of its customers, determine it’s customer’s sources of funds; determine the normal and expected transactions of its customers; monitor account activity for transactions that are inconsistent with those normal and expected transactions; and report any transactions of its customers that are determined to be suspicious.” – Charles Sykes, The End of Privacy
“The linkage of government databases with corporate databases, increases the likelihood that intimate personal information – credit histories, spending habits, unlisted telephone numbers, voting, medical and employment histories – could easily be accessed without a person’s knowledge.” ACLU, National Identification Cards brief
“Perhaps the most important lesson is that decisions made early on have far-reaching effects.Designed in 1932, the Social Security number has had its role in society constantly expanded over the last two-thirds of this century.No matter how you look at it, the SSN is a bad number.But out country has been unable to stop using it.Witness the huge number of uses that the number has today.” – Simson Garfinkel, Database Nation
“The Privacy Act, if enforced would be a pretty good thing. But the government doesn't like it. Government has an insatiable appetite for power, and it will not stop usurping power unless it is restrained by laws they cannot repeal or nullify. There are mighty few laws they cannot nullify.” Senator Sam Ervin, principal sponsor of the Privacy Act of 1974
Government Spying
“The US' double standard regarding "cyber vandalism" was underscored in February, when George Washington University researchers posted recently declassified Defense Department documents on the internet. For years, the US has denied the existence of a global electronic spying tool called Echelon but the documents establish that the system has existed since 1947. It is dominated by the US, and shared by Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Echelon's spy satellites intercept private phone, fax and email messages around the world and send them to a UK spy bases at Menwith Hill, where "dictionary computers" filter out messages with key words, names, addresses and phone numbers. This information is then forwarded to a massive US intelligence operation at Fort Meade, Virginia.” – Earth Island Journal, Summer 2000
“U.S. spy agencies are running a monster global surveillance network that's violating the human rights of millions of citizens and undermining foreign businesses, according to a British intelligence expert. Duncan Campbell, a former journalist and TV producer, is the man who has created all the fuss about Echelon, the super secret signals-intelligence program run by the National Security Agency. His alarming reports to the European Parliament about the U.S. surveillance system - which he says operates like a giant vacuum cleaner in the heavens that intercepts 1 billion phone calls, faxes and e-mails an hour - have triggered investigations throughout Europe and plunged relations between the United States and its closest NATO allies to their lowest levels in decades.” – Niles Lathem, “Giant US Spy Vacuum Sparks a Global Uproar,” New York Post, July 10“The Clinton administration has confirmed that it helped the Boeing Corp. win a $6 billion contract to sell jets to Saudi Arabia in 1994 by quietly approaching King Fahd with intercepted e-mails and faxes indicating that Airbus, the competing European consortium, was trying to bribe Saudi officials. The same year, the Raytheon Corp. won a $1.4 billion contract over France's Thompson CSF to sell a sophisticated surveillance system to Brazil under similar circumstances. Raytheon officials were quoted in several newspapers at the time as saying the administration's intervention had been "very helpful." - Niles Lathem, “Giant US Spy Vacuum Sparks a Global Uproar,” New York Post, July 10
“Here's how Carnivore works. The FBI attaches the Carnivore computer to the Internet service provider's computer network. Once Carnivore is attached, it reads every e-mail sent using the system, and (supposedly) traps only the e-mail for the e-mail address that it is tapping.” – Bob Palmer, “Is the FBI Reading Your E-Mail? Big Brother Could be Watching,” Memphis Business Journal, July 21, 2000
“But Dempsey (an analyst with the Center for Democracy and Technology, a Washington high-tech policy group) expressed worries about the new system, which would be installed at the offices of a suspect's Internet service provider. Just as the device could be used to fine-tune a search, it also could used for broad sweeps of data. "The bad news is that it's a black box the government wants to insert into the premises of a service provider. Nobody knows that it does what the government claims it would do," Dempsey said.” – John Schwartz, “FBI's Internet Wiretaps Raise Privacy Concerns” from the Washington Post, July 11, 2000
“Although Congress has passed legislation requiring telephone companies to make their developing high-tech networks easy to wiretap, Gidari is one of a large number of industry experts who believe the law does not apply to wiretapping the Internet. "The FBI overreaches in everything they do," said Gidari, who is president of G-Savvy, an Internet consulting company.”-John Schwartz, “FBI's Internet Wiretaps Raise Privacy Concerns” from the Washington Post, July 11, 2000“Civil liberties groups said the new system raises troubling issues about what constitutes a reasonable search and seizure of electronic data. In sniffing out potential criminal conduct, the new technology also could scan private information about legal activities. ‘It goes to the heart of how the Fourth Amendment and the federal wiretap statute are going to be applied in the Internet age,’ said Marc Rotenberg, head of the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center.” -John Schwartz, “FBI's Internet Wiretaps Raise Privacy Concerns” from the Washington Post, July 11, 2000
“Privacy in an open society also requires cryptography. If I say something, I want it heard only by those for whom I intend it. If the content of my speech is available to the world, I have no privacy. To encrypt is to indicate the desire for privacy, and to encrypt with weak cryptography is to indicate not too much desire for privacy.” – Eric Hughes, The Cypherpunk Manifesto
“Due to recent developments in software and hardware, some consumer-level encryption products are now so powerful that law enforcement officials say they can't crack them, even with massive supercomputers.” - Dan Froomkin, “Deciphering Encryption” from the Washington Post Special Report on Encryption, May 8, 1998
“FBI Director Louis Freeh is the most outspoken advocate of encryption restrictions. He argues that the capability to conduct court-authorized electronic surveillance should be built into any technology, including powerful encryption software.Electronic surveillance has become a powerful tool in the police arsenal. But now, Freeh complains, new technology is helping criminals more than the police. One Freeh proposal is that all users of powerful encryption software be asked to turn over their keys to a third party, so that law-enforcement officials can gain access to them with a court order.” - Dan Froomkin, “Deciphering Encryption” from the Washington Post Special Report on Encryption, May 8, 1998
“A quick overview: Clipper was an encryption chip that was developed and sponsored by the U.S. government. It was announced by the White House in early 1993 and was designed to balance the often-contrasting concerns of federal law-enforcement agencies with those of private citizens and industry. The law-enforcement agencies want to have complete access to the communications of suspected criminals, but they feel threatened by advances in secure telecommunications cryptography. The commercial sector and individual citizens want secure telecommunications and need strong cryptography to provide it.” – Ben Rothke, “Government Mandated Key Escrow, A Bad Idea That Won’t Go Away,” Information Systems Security, Summer 1999
“EFF and other public advocacy groups are up in arms over the Clipper chip because, in trying to balance the needs of communications security with the needs of legitimate law enforcement agencies, NSA has included a wild card in the deck: a digital trapdoor. Each Clipper chip, installed in every phone, computer and Personal Digital Assistant in America, will carry a device identification number or electronic "key"--a family key and a unit key unique to each Clipper chip.” – Murray Slovick, “The Big Brother Chip,” Popular Mechanics, September 1994
“The so-called RIP bill – for regulation of investigatory powers – has stirred controversy because it would make Britain the only country in the Group of Seven industrial nations with the explicit legal power to demand that companies hand over keys required to decode data encrypted for secrecy.It would also give the government new powers to attach software to Internet service providers that could pipe data, under warrant, to a unit housed in the building of MI5, Britain’s internal security service.” – “If You Saw “Patriot,” We Log Your E-Mail: Privacy, RIP” from the Wall Street Journal, July 17, 2000
Privacy in the Future
New Tracking Technology
“A working prototype of an implant designed to monitor the physiology and whereabouts of human wearers, known as Digital Angel®, is scheduled to be unveiled in October at an invitation-only event in New York City -- two months ahead of schedule. Developed by Applied Digital Solutions, the device is said to be the first-ever operational combination of bio-sensor technology and Web-enabled wireless telecommunications linked to global positioning satellite location-tracking systems… In addition to locating missing persons and monitoring physiological data, the device will be marketed to the world of e-commerce as a means of verifying online consumer identity.” – Jo Anne Kohlbrand, “Human ID Implant to be Unveiled Soon” from Worldnetdaily“Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) systems make it possible to embed a computer readable serial number in an automobile, a gas cylinder, a pet or even a human being.The system is based on an electronic tag that is stimulated using a low-energy radio signal.Once energized, the tag transmits its serial number. RFID systems have been used for ski tags, employee badges, and tracking animals.A similar technology is used in most highway automatic toll collection systems.Since these systems are silent and passive, they can be read without the knowledge (or the consent) of the person carrying the radio tag.” – Simson Garfinkel, Database Nation
Biometrics
“Pattern-recognition software soon will be able to analyze the stride of a person, University of Maryland professor Larry Davis said Thursday at the Biometric Consortium 2000 Conference co-sponsored by the National Security Agency. By isolating what he called a "signature of human motion," the technology could be used to perform bulk surveillance in public areas, assuming that information about who walks in what way is on file.”- Kathleen Ellis, “ID Them By the Way They Walk“ from Wired News“Visionics' FaceIt system works by isolating human faces in still pictures and then comparing them to photos in a database containing a specific population, such as licensed drivers, known criminals or missing children. The system then ranks each photo in the database by likelihood that the two images, when paired together, represent the same person.” - Kathleen Ellis, “ID Them By the Way They Walk“ from Wired News
Implications of Genetic Intrusion
“Will these technologies be used? Will employers, creditors, courts, and schools rely on genetic information when making decisions about individuals? In all likelihood, they will. Indeed, genetic information is already being used. Courts now use genetic "fingerprints" (DNA sequences) to establish paternity and determine guilt in cases of rape. The fact that every human has a unique genetic profile makes the use of DNA for identification purposes ideal. A few employers in certain high-risk sectors (chemicals, batteries) request genetic material as a routine aspect of job applications to screen out individuals with susceptibility to injury from the materials in the workplace. Schools have not yet ventured into genetic testing, although many learning problems are now attributed to genetic and/or biochemical causes (e.g., attention deficit disorder, dyslexia). Problems with learning are increasingly attributed to medical causes rather than social or environmental causes. More than half of all children in school with a diagnosed disability today are classified as "learning disabled." In 1979, only 29% were similarly defined.” Steven Nock, “Too Much Privacy?,” Journal of Family Issues, January 1998
“How far will the desire to know another's future go? The answer is found by considering those relationships that involve risk and uncertainty. To the extent we are offered the chance to reduce such risks, will we? Consider the very risky relationship formed by marriage. With current divorce rates hovering near 50%, marriage is a risky proposition. Would individuals take chances on a partner when they could avoid risks? What about childbearing? Will potential parents forego genetic testing of a fetus when such tests might reveal important and potentially correctable problems? There are good reasons to suspect that such options would be attractive. On the other hand, the currently available methods for uncovering the pasts of partners have not yet been incorporated into our mate-selection customs. There is little evidence that credit histories, employment records, or educational credentials of potential spouses are obtained and consulted prior to marriage. And, even though fetal testing for several inherited problems is possible today, it is still rarely done. In short, there is not much evidence that intimate relationships have been changed to accommodate modern techniques for verifying reputations. But, they may soon. As these procedures become more common in the workplace, schools, courts, and other public social institutions, they may come to be seen as less exceptional, unusual, or objectionable in intimate relationships.” Steven Nock, “Too Much Privacy?”Journal of Family Issues, January 1998
Legislation
“The U.S. government may need sweeping new powers to investigate and prosecute future denial-of-service attacks, top law enforcement officials said Tuesday. Anonymous remailers and free trial accounts allow hackers and online pornographers to cloak their identity, deputy attorney general Eric Holder told a joint congressional panel. “ - Declan McCullagh, “U.S. Wants Less Web Anonymity” from Wired News
“The technical details of the presentations seemed to elude Republican South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond, the oldest surviving member of the Senate. Thurmond, chairman of the Senate's criminal justice oversight subcommittee, was born in 1902 and ran for president in 1948 as a member of the States' Rights party. But it was one of the younger members of the House -- Texas Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee -- who appeared the most confused. She said that parents should be held legally responsible for what their teen-age children do "on those Internet channels." - Declan McCullagh, “U.S. Wants Less Web Anonymity” from Wired News
How to Protect Yourself
Informational Web Sites
Privacy International - http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.privacyinternational.org/
Cypherpunks - http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.csua.berkeley.edu/cypherpunks/Home.html
Encryption Legal News - http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.techlawjournal.com/encrypt/Default.htm
General Privacy Legal News - http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.techlawjournal.com/privacy/Default.htmFree-Market Privacy Information -http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.privacilla.org/
ACLU’s Site on Privacy - http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.aclu.org/issues/cyber/hmcl.html
ACLU’s Privacy Rights Card - http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.aclu.org/action/privcard.html
Privacy Times - http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.privacytimes.com/
Electronic Privacy Information Center -http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://epic.org/privacy/privacy_resources_faq.html
Privacy.Net - http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://privacy.net/
Privacy Tools
Anonymous Remailers:
http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.andrebacard.com/remail.htmlhttp://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.obscura.com/~loki/remailer/mixmaster-faq.html
"Just as patriots in the 1770s and computer users in the 1990s relied on cryptography, they both relied on anonymity as well." - Robert Ellis Smith, Ben Franklin’s Web Site
Anonymous Surfing - http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.anonymizer.com/
Spyware Removal - http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://grc.com/optout.htm
Cookie Removal - http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.thelimitsoft.com/cookie.html , http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.geocities.com/Paris/1778/monster.html
Cookie Information - http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.cookiecentral.com/faq/index.shtml
Cryptography -PGPhttp://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/ftp://ftp.csn.net/mpj/getpgp.asc
Disk Encryption: http://web.archive.org/web/20010708062040/http://www.stack.nl/~galactus/remailers/index-diskcrypt.html
Digicash – anonymous payments on the Internet http://www.digicash.com/aka eCash
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