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Chapter 2

The document discusses key topics related to privacy and computer technology. It defines important terminology like data mining, computer matching, and computer profiling. It also outlines diverse privacy issues such as marketing and consumer dossiers, location tracking, stolen data, public records, national ID systems, and protecting children's privacy. Finally, it examines ways of protecting privacy through technology, laws and rights, as well as issues around communication privacy.

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ahmed
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37 views

Chapter 2

The document discusses key topics related to privacy and computer technology. It defines important terminology like data mining, computer matching, and computer profiling. It also outlines diverse privacy issues such as marketing and consumer dossiers, location tracking, stolen data, public records, national ID systems, and protecting children's privacy. Finally, it examines ways of protecting privacy through technology, laws and rights, as well as issues around communication privacy.

Uploaded by

ahmed
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Privacy and Computer

Technology
Key Aspects of Privacy:
• Freedom from intrusion (being left
alone)
• Control of information about oneself
• Freedom from surveillance (being
tracked, followed, watched)

1
Privacy and Computer
Technology (cont.)
Terminology (cont.):
• Data mining - searching and analyzing
masses of data to find patterns and
develop new information or knowledge
• Computer matching - combining and
comparing information from different
databases (using social security
number, for example, to match records)

2
Privacy and Computer
Technology (cont.)
Terminology (cont.):
• Computer profiling - analyzing data in
computer files to determine
characteristics of people most likely to
engage in certain behavior

3
Privacy and Computer
Technology
In-class Discussion Questions
• Have you seen opt-in and opt-out
choices? Where? How were they
worded?
• Were any of them deceptive?
• What are some common elements of
privacy policies you have read?

4
Diverse Privacy Topics
Marketing, Personalization and Consumer
Dossiers:
• Targeted marketing
– Data mining
– Paying for consumer information
– Data firms and consumer profiles
• Credit records
5
Diverse Privacy Topics
(cont.)
Location Tracking:
• Global Positioning Systems (GPS)
-computer or communication services that
know exactly where a person is at a
particular time
• Cell phones and other devices are used
for location tracking
• Pros and cons
6
Diverse Privacy Topics
(cont.)
Stolen and Lost Data:
• Hackers
• Physical theft (laptops, thumb-drives,
etc.)
• Requesting information under false
pretenses
• Bribery of employees who have access
7
Diverse Privacy Topics
(cont.)
What We Do Ourselves:
• Personal information in blogs and online
profiles
• Pictures of ourselves and our families
• File sharing and storing
• Is privacy old-fashioned?
– Young people put less value on privacy
than previous generations
– May not understand the risks
8
Diverse Privacy Topics
(cont.)
Public Records: Access vs. Privacy:
• Public Records - records available to general
public (bankruptcy, property, and arrest
records, salaries of government employees,
etc.)
• Identity theft can arise when public records
are accessed
• How should we control access to sensitive
public records?

9
Diverse Privacy Topics
(cont.)
National ID System:
• Social Security Numbers
– Too widely used
– Easy to falsify

10
Diverse Privacy Topics
(cont.)
National ID System (Cont.):
• A new national ID system - Pros
– would require the card
– harder to forge
– have to carry only one card
• A new national ID system - Cons
– Threat to freedom and privacy
– Increased potential for abuse
11
Diverse Privacy Topics
(cont.)
Children:
• The Internet
– Not able to make decisions on when to
provide information
– Vulnerable to online predators
• Parental monitoring
– Software to monitor Web usage
– Web cams to monitor children while parents
are at work
– GPS tracking via cell phones or RFID
12
Protecting Privacy
Technology and Markets:
• Privacy enhancing-technologies for
consumers
• Encryption
– Public-key cryptography
• Business tools and policies for
protecting data

13
Protecting Privacy (cont.)
Rights and laws: Contrasting Viewpoints (cont.):
• Consumer Protection View
– Uses of personal information
– Costly and disruptive results of errors in
databases
– Ease with which personal information leaks
out
– Consumers need protection from their own
lack of knowledge, judgment, or interest
14
Communication
Wiretapping and E-mail Protection:
• Telephone
– 1934 Communications Act prohibited interception
of messages
– 1968 Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act
allowed wiretapping and electronic surveillance by
law-enforcement (with court order)
• E-mail and other new communications
– Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986
(ECPA) extended the 1968 wiretapping laws to
include electronic communications, restricts
government access to e-mail

15
Communication (cont.)
Encryption Policy:
• Government ban on export of strong
encryption software in the 1990s
(removed in 2000)

16

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