Wired News Dems: 'Big Browser' Is Watching
"Who, or what presents the greatest threat to the privacy rights of Americans?

Citing a trend from "Big Brother to Big Browser," a surrogate for Democratic candidate Al Gore on Monday argued at a Bush-Gore privacy debate that it was the private sector that constituted the greatest threat."

"Stephen Goldsmith, former Indianapolis mayor and current Bush domestic policy advisor, did not argue with the concept of a privacy bill of rights, but instead cited the booming economy as proof that consumers have been overwhelmingly helped in the long run by technologies that allow corporations to collect information on their customers.

Goldsmith cited Carnivore, the controversial FBI email surveillance program, as proof that big government still has the potential to abuse its power, especially when regulating a booming private sector."

National Review Sneaking In the Secret Search
"No person's liberty is safe in the last week of Congress ? traditionally a time when civil liberties invasions such as wire-tapping, gun prohibition, and the like are snuck through into legislation. These are the final frantic hours of the session, and there is no opportunity for public opposition."

"The bill allows the government to obtain any kind of document it wants, without first getting a search warrant or a subpoena from a court. Section 3(b) allows the attorney general or her subordinate, rather than a court, to issue subpoenas. These documents include any written or electronic document possessed by an individual ? or possessed by a third party (such as bank records, credit card records, telephone records, school records, or an Internet Service Provider's customer records).

In other words, the bill guts the Fourth Amendment requirement that private documents should be searched only after a court issues a warrant based on probable cause.

Even worse, section 3(g) of the bill allows these document seizures to be conducted secretly, so that the individual might never be told that his bank records, Internet records, or other documents have been searched by the government. The section allows the attorney general's subpoena a "provider of electronic communication service" to receive the secrecy privileges that are currently allowed only for wiretaps (these include that the government can delay or postpone forever telling a person that he has been searched). "

MSNBC Many have cyber-security qualms
"Four out of five Americans doubt the U.S. government?s ability to maintain computer security and privacy, a poll released Monday showed."

"FORTY-SIX PERCENT of respondents said they were ?very concerned? and 35 percent said they were ?somewhat concerned? that government-held data about them may be misused some day, according to the survey conducted for the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), a trade group.

In another finding that could prove worrisome for electronic commerce, 72 percent said they would not feel safe signing a contract over the Internet using a ?secure digital signature.?"

redux [09.02.00]
The Washington Post 'Opting In': A Privacy Paradox
"Some big computer out there knows all about Joan Schram. Its massive memory has stored the birth dates of family members and friends, the fact that she drives a Ford Explorer, and the names and birth dates of her American shorthair cat and rare Brazilian fila dog.

And she's thrilled about it.

Schram gave out the information herself, answering screen after screen of personal questions from LifeMinders Inc., a Herndon-based company that collects such data from consumers and e-mails them information in return – reminders of important dates, tips on when it's time to treat the cat for ticks, and news and advertising targeted to their interests.

But like many Americans, the Kennedy Center employee also says she's uncomfortable with the thought that when she goes online, other Internet companies could be monitoring her wanderings and gathering the same kind of personal information that she freely gave over to LifeMinders. If somebody else knew about her Explorer, she says, "I'd be a little disconcerted."

It's one of the more puzzling conundrums of online life. While companies that capitalize on the Internet's powerful potential to invade privacy are denounced as villains of the information age, millions of people type out highly personal data and send it off to Web sites they've barely heard of, with no strong legal protection against misuse of the information."

redux [04.30.00]
Salon Twilight of the crypto-geeks
"Neal Stephenson, a writer with a cultlike following among the technologically minded and author of the classic "Snowcrash," has given an over-long, hugely digressive -- and brilliant -- speech. After many, many turns and a deep stack of points and stories, Stephenson gets around to saying that the best defense for one's privacy and personal integrity turns out to be not cryptography but, what do you know, "social structures." He is not explicit about the exact nature of these structures, but from the slides that follow, we get a sense of every sort of social relationship from neighborly friendliness to political parties. The slides show drawings of small circles representing areas of social trust. The circles widen and merge, to create a field of autonomy, a trusted space.

Stephenson is making a point about code: Without a sociopolitical context, cryptography is not going to protect you. He singles out PGP for criticism, saying that relying on the encryption scheme is like trying to protect your house with a fence consisting of a single, very tall picket. A slide shows the lone picket rising into the sky, a bird considering it with bulging eyes."

Computers Freedom & Privacy Conference 2000 Audio Transcripts: Neal Stephenson Dinner Speach