Privacy

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Privacy

The need for information privacy and protection has sparked some level of dedicated regulation in almost every country around the world. But rules, restrictions, and punitive measures vary from country to country. In the US, the confusion is further compounded by a growing number of state laws deriving chiefly from California SB 1386, as well as several pending federal privacy laws, each with its own definition of sensitive information. In addition, industry regulations, such as HIPAA privacy and security requirements and payment card industry (PCI) security standards put a further onus on companies to stay abreast of ever-changing and increasingly detailed requirements.

Privacy and Security Trade-offs

Privacy and security can be in conflict, requiring trade-offs between the two, or privacy can enhance security. For the collection of taxes it is in the interests of government if one's earnings and income are well known. On the other hand, that same information may be used to select someone or his family as a good target for kidnapping. In these narrow terms, one group's interest is to keep the information private. One of the goals of computer security is confidentiality. Identity theft, for example, is a security problem that is created from a lack of privacy or failure of confidentiality.

Privacy can also have free speech ramifications. In some countries privacy has been used as a tool to suppress free speech. One person's speech can sometimes be considered a violation of another's person's privacy. In various cases the US Supreme Court has ruled that the First Amendment trumps privacy. In Bartnicki v. Vopper, 532 U.S. 514 (2001) Docket Number: 99-1687, US Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that someone cannot be held liable in court for publishing or broadcasting intercepted contents of information, as long as that information is of public concern. Conversely, the Constitutional right to privacy is built in part on the First Amendment.

Census data is another area where such trade-offs become apparent. Accurate data are useful for planning future services (whether commercial or public sector), on the other hand, almost all censuses are released only in a way which does not allow identification of specific individuals. Often this is done by randomly altering the data and directly reducing accuracy.

On the other hand some trade-offs may be regarded as false by some observers. Identity card systems, which may reduce privacy, are often presented as a method of increasing security. More pragmatically, privacy sometimes is not maintained because there is a benefit provided by disclosure. For example, a potential employer is given a resume or curriculum vitae in order to evaluate someone's appropriateness for employment. Or, contact information, e-mail addresses most often, are provided in exchange for access to some useful information, like a "white paper".

Reasons for Not Maintaining Privacy

It has been reasoned that privacy discourages information sharing between individuals which in turn can lead to mistrust and intolerance among people and perpetuate false information. If information can be shared widely then facts can generally be verified through many different sources and there are less chances of inaccuracies. It has also been reasoned that privacy can perpetuate stigma and intolerance. The reasoning behind this is that restrictions on information about people can inhibit and discourage collection and finding of data that is required for an accurate analysis and discussion on the causes and root of the stigma and intolerance. Philosophers often ask how people can learn to accept each other if they cannot know about each other. Issues have also been raised that privacy can encourage criminal activity as it makes it easier for criminals to hide their unlawful activities.

Organizations

References

  • Dennis Bailey, Open Society Paradox: Why The Twenty-first Century Calls For More Openness--not Less, Brasseys Inc (November, 2004), hardcover, 224 pages, ISBN 1-57488-916-8
  • Judith Wagner DeCew, 1997, In Pursuit of Privacy: Law, Ethics, and the Rise of Technology, Ithaca: Cornell University Press
  • Whitefield Diffie and Susan Landau, 2007, Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption, The MIT Press, ISBN 978-0-262-04240-6
  • Ruth Gavison, "Privacy and the Limits of the Law," in Michael J. Gorr and Sterling Harwood, eds., Crime and Punishment: Philosophic Explorations (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 2000, formerly Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1996), paperback, 552 pages, pp. 46-68
  • Raymond Geuss, 2003, "Public Goods, Private Goods," Princeton: Princeton University Press
  • Sven Ove Hansson and Elin Palm, eds., The Ethics of Workplace Privacy (SALTSA Reports, Work and Society Series nr 50), (Brussels: P.I.E.-Peter Lang), 2005, paperback, 186 pages, ISBN 90-5201-293-8
  • Robert O Harrow, No Place To Hide: Behind The Scenes Of Our Emerging Surveillance Society, Free Press or Simon and Schuster (January, 2005), hardcover, 304 pages, ISBN 0-7432-5480-5
  • Adam D. Moore, 2003, “Privacy: Its Meaning and Value” American Philosophical Quarterly 40: 215-227
  • William Parent, 1983, “Privacy, Morality and the Law”, Philosophy and Public Affairs 12: 269-88
  • K. A. Taipale, "Technology, Security and Privacy: The Fear of Frankenstein, the Mythology of Privacy, and the Lessons of King Ludd," 7 Yale J. L. & Tech. 123 ; 9 Intl. J. Comm. L. & Pol'y 8 (Dec. 2004) (arguing for incorporating privacy protecting features in the construction of information systems through value sensitive design)
  • Judith Jarvis Thomson, "The Right to Privacy," in Michael J. Gorr and Sterling Harwood, eds., Crime and Punishment: Philosophic Explorations (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co., 2000, formerly Jones and Bartlett Publishers, 1995), 552 pages, pp. 34-46
  • Perry Metzger (1993) A Parable. http://cypherpunks.venona.com/date/1993/04/msg00559.html
  • David H. Holtzman, Privacy Lost: How Technology Is Endangering Your Privacy, Jossey-Bass (September, 2006), hardcover, 278 pages, ISBN 0-7879-8511-2
  • A. Westin, 1967, Privacy and Freedom, New York: Atheneum
  • Adams, Helen. "Privacy in the 21st Century". Libraries Unlimited, 2005

External References

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