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Control and Benefit Are Morally Owed to the Source
Richard A. Wright
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Reframing the Issues
- 3. The “High Cost to Industry” Defense
- 3.1 Raw Materials as a Cost of Doing Business
- 3.2 The Cost of Correcting Past Inequities as a Cost of Doing Business
- 3.3 Originator Control of Materials as a Feature of Doing Business
- 4. The “Private” is “Public” Defense 4.1 Private Information and “Voluntary” Release
- 4.2 Private Information in the “Public” Domain
- 4.3 Autonomy as the Basis for Understanding Privacy
- 5. Toward a Resolution
- 6. Concluding Thoughts
Private Information and “Voluntary” Release
Willis Ware has done two important things in his excellent
track address: first, he has given us a wonderful historical perspective
on the contemporary privacy issues; and, second, he has clearly laid out
a wide range of alternatives for addressing those issues. By setting everything
up so nicely, Ware has now presented the rest of us with the challenge
of developing an understanding of the issues which will move us toward
their resolution.
At the same time, Ware’s presentation may have the unfortunate side
effect of being too neutral, giving the impression that the playing field
is somehow level at the start. This then encourages the impression that
“everybody” affected by the privacy issues has a roughly equal
and legitimate stake in the enterprise of resolving those issues. His
nine options may then be seen (mistakenly) as presenting a nine-way intellectual
“gridlock,” with each interest just as important as the other,
so that the problems are only resolvable at the lowest common denominator.
This “gridlock” could then result in downplaying, thus reinforcing,
the significant advantage currently enjoyed by the information industry
in any resolution process.
My approach will be to argue against any sense of equality or privilege
for the industry. Specifically, I will argue that the needs and desires
of the information industry must take a subordinate role to the needs
and desires of those whose information forms the “raw materials”
for that industry. I will then make several suggestions, different from
those Ware has made, which I believe will be fruitful directions in which
to look for a resolution to the primary issues.
Go to: 4.2 Private Information in the “Public” Domain
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