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
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: 2. Reframing the Issues
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