Privacy

"ISPs and Database Sued in Abortion Case"

January 22 NYT. First-amendment freedom of expression rights vs. privacy rights: anti-abortion activists are using publicly available motor vehicle databases to identify visitors to abortion clinics by their license plate numbers. Should this information be available over the internet?

Where to get the latest PGP (Pretty Good Privacy) FAQ

General information about PGP, as well as information about where to get it.

"Lawmakers Renew Encryption Battle"

NYT, Feb 26, 1999. Article about the refiling of SAFE, the Security and Freedom through Encryption Act. Here is a link to an index of other NYT articles about encryption.

The Center for Democracy and Technology

Up-to-date information about a variety of issues, including privacy issues, and a fairly detailed "Guide to Online Privacy."

Sites Offering Privacy Protection

TRUSTe offers a seal "to Web sites that adhere to established privacy principles and agree to comply with our oversight and consumer resolution process. A displayed trustmark signifies to online users that the Web site will openly share, at a minimum, what personal information is being gathered, how it will be used, with whom it will be shared, and whether the user has an option to control its dissemination. Based on such disclosure, users can make informed decisions about whether or not to release their personally identifiable information (e.g. credit card numbers) to the Web site."
Anonymizer.com offers a range of privacy services, including anonymous web surfing, anonymous email, and anonymous web publishing.
According to an article in the March 22 New York Times, Novell has announced a product called "Digital Me" that is being billed as designed to help people protect their privacy in cyberspace. It will allow people to set up separate profiles with different amounts of information about them, and to disclose as much or as little information to the sites they visit as they please. (One point I thought was interesting was that: "Besides protecting privacy, such an approach might also make it possible for users to sell or barter their personal data for rebates, discounts or other special considerations from online merchants." This seemed like an odd idea when I read about it in the Electronic Frontier book, but here it is, close to commercial reality!) Apparently the part of the software used by individuals is to be free, though companies would need to purchase the bit that lets you access information.

Curtis Brown | GNED 1300-1 | cbrown@trinity.edu