Willis H. Ware
1. Introduction
2. Historical Development
3. United States Posture
4. Source of the Problem
5. Privacy as a Public Policy Issue
6. Contemporary Privacy
6.1 Current Example
7. Public Policy Again
7.1 An Illustration – CNI
8. The Broadened Public Issue
9. Possible Approaches to Protection
10. Related Effects
11. Privacy as Social Equity
12. New Privacy Versus Old
13. Context for New Privacy
14. Privacy Versus Public Distaste
15. The Future for Privacy
16. References
As general context for contemplating privacy and possible approaches to protection of it in its new and enlarged image, it is worth restating a position first enunciated by the PPSC. Namely:
Privacy must not be the cover or the excuse for violating the law. Conversely, privacy should not impede actions that are in the nature of assuring that there are not violations of the law. The latter interpretation becomes tricky but in fact really is one basis for computer matching at government levels.
And it is also worth pondering a related concept that also was introduced during the PPSC. Putting it into contemporary phrasing:
The net effect of modern recordkeeping practices and use of personal information, all supported by current computer and communications art, is to tighten the processes of society. Things we have been used to doing and anomalies that we discovered and exploited in a world of paper systems are vanishing or made more difficult.
A trivial example is the float in bank checking accounts. It used to take several days for a check to clear and people often counted on that time delay to manage cash flow. Debit cards and prompt posting of credit card transactions plus automated check clearing systems have pretty much taken that unintended advantage away.
Go to: 14. Privacy Versus Public Distaste
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