Privacy concerns and technology

We continue to plod through an era distinguished not only by an unprecedented and accelerating technological evolution but also by a lag in the development of the attendant social, ethical, and legal institutions it demands.  Think of the Wild West.  Trust, credibility, security, discretion, proof, identity, and the like, are ambiguous now because the new society itself isn't yet half-realized. 

If it wasn't already, privacy is fast becoming a major concern for most individuals.   Privacy concerns of consumers is consistently cited as a major barrier to growth in eBusiness.  But more importantly, if left mutually unresolved, certain privacy issues can be exploited to pose a threat to our freedom and personal security.

How can we resolve these issues?  Through honest and open debate followed by fair and universal instruments of trust.   Let's explore.

A Sampling of Privacy debates:

Web site control and monitoring in the workplace

There is an ongoing debate surrounding the degree to which a business should monitor and control the online behaviour of its employees.  What are the issues?  What are the benefits of monitoring and control?  What are the costs?  How can a business maximize the power of the Internet and yet discourage employee misuse?

ISPs giving up names of filesharers

Using a tactic resembling those of the RIAA in the United States, the Canadian Recording Industry Association has asked a number of Internet service providers to hand over contact information for customers it suspects of "egregious" uploading of music files.  What are the issues raised by this development?    How does this change the traditional role of an ISP?

Biometrics and Information Technology

Biometrics is a term that refers to a wide range of measures of biological data that, among other things, can be used as a means of identication and authentication.   Fingerprinting and retina scanning are a couple of examples.  Developments in technology have made the use of biometrics as an identity tool more feasible and very widespread.  Since September 11/01, governments have been installing biometric capturing equipment, and in particular face recognition, for surveillance purposes and as a way of identifying people who are a threat to security.   Do you agree with these measures? Are these techniques the realization of Orwell's concept of big brother? What issues do they raise?

Data collection (click tracking, information sharing/merging, hidden and otherwise)

Web applications can be used to collect detailed information from those who are browsing their web pages.  In addition to recording your name, organization, email address, operating system, and web browser, for example, a given web site might be carefully tracking which sites you've been visiting and which content you've been particularly interested in.  When companies merge the information they've gathered independently over time is then aggregated to create a more detailed picture of you the consumer.
Is this concerning?  To where could it lead?  What should companies do to mitigate your concern?

The future:  Will our social and legal institutions catch up?

While many of the underlying principles of the early Internet do indeed support openness and universality, an abandonment of private, personal security is not an intentional or required trade-off of creating a universal information space.

We continue to plod through an era distinguished not only by an unprecedented and accelerating technological evolution but also by a lag in the development of attendant social, ethical, and legal institutions that it demands. We are slowly, I believe, beginning to make necessary adjustments in our manner of thinking (perhaps in spite of ourselves). Whether or not we can turn new ways of thinking into ideas, approaches, and new practical methods that realize the potential of the new networking era and builds a progressive society, that remains to be seen.  It will depend on our ability to encourage new thinking, to provide fair and equal education for all, and to foster and maintain an open and honest debate on important issues. At our current pace of technological growth this gap is just as likely to widen as to narrow.  When it does finally narrow, trust, credibility, security, discretion, proof, privacy, and the like, will become as assertive in the virtual world as they have ever been before. If we employ them well these foundations will allow us to mitigate, when appropriate, the ambiguity that surrounds identity online.

A mature virtual world could one day incorporate a range of applications designed for a whole range of activities including those that are serious, sensitive, private, and personal, as well as playful. We will have discovered the opportunities that arose out of the ambiguity, as well as the dangers. We will strive, clumsily, to find a balance.