Two items in the New York Times address the issue of privacy from different angles.
Katie Hafner’s piece uses interviews to convey how some Internet users are responding to the revelation that the Justice Department is seeking search results from Google and other search providers. Its mix of quotes highlights how free most of have felt about searching for virtually any information on the web, and how even the hint that “Big Brother is Watching” can begin to squelch that sense of freedom and the urge to learn and explore that’s enabled by Internet searching in ways not seen before in human history. In that respect, the article gives a very human face to the electronic privacy issues now increasingly in the public eye.
In another NYT piece, David Shenk, author of “Data Smog,” says that “[o]ut of convenience, we embraced technologies meant to track our every move…For better and worse, free societies are fast entering the world of total surveillance.”
After citing a number of examples, including Gmail, Apple’s MiniStore and RFID tags, Shenk says “[o]ur increased exposure will demand a much more nuanced definition of what “privacy” means as well as specific new tools to help us navigate its components [and] new and broader vigilance.”
Sadly, today’s fine-print corporate disclaimers do not even come close to being adequate, and proper disclosure is unlikely to come without government action. But the good news is that there is a simple and elegant standard for all surveillance minders to adopt: citizens have the right to know - in real time - when and how they are being monitored. Just as some states require “all-party consent” for telephone recordings, so it should be with e-mail, Web surfing, walks in the park or any activity being captured by a distant unseen party.
Shenk offers up several examples of such disclosures, including “All persons entering City Park are subject to video and audio surveillance by the Metropolitan Police Department” and “Thank you for browsing at BooksOnLine.com, where page views are recorded and attached to your file. Click here if you prefer to browse anonymously.”
Echoing a point I made in an earlier post, Shenk concludes that:
Sunshine is the only antidote to surveillance, and openness is inherently democratic. Such disclosures allow consumers to react as they wish. And if the snooping is too embarrassing for companies or public officials to acknowledge, their noses shouldn’t be there to begin with.
Mitch Shapiro at 5:35 PM|Comments(0)
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