Re: Gates to Privacy Rescue? Riiight!
At 2:27 PM -0800 12/10/00, petro wrote: Mr. May: The author also mentions that consumers dislike (so?) tracking of their purchases...and then in the next paragraphs cites the Firestone tire recall as an example of better policy than most Web sites have (or something like this...I re-read his analogy several times and still wasn't sure what his claim was). But I took that statement to mean that if Firestone exercised the same level of diligence in the engineering of their tires that most web sites used, they would be recalling a *LOT* more tires, enough to make the current recall a drop in the bucket. Sure, but I was making the point that this is an ironic example, as it was the records which Firestone and Ford kept of their customers which allowed them to send recall letters out to those customers! (I just got Yet Another Letter from Ford, which I haven't opened. The last couple have exhorted me to _please_ make arrangements with a local dealer to have the Firestone tires on my Explorer replaced.) I got a similar letter from Costco, the giant box store, saying that a _rope light_ I bought at some time in the past--their letter gave the exact date--has been recalled due to the chance that it may burst into flames under certain circumstances. (When it gets wet, as the waterproofing was faulty. Inasmuch as I use these rope lights to illuminate and heat the interior of my gun safe, I ignored the letter.) There are technological solutions for how companies can notify customers without knowing what customers buy, obviously. Nyms, cut out accounts, agents which send ticklers, etc. This was not my point, only the irony of citing the Firestone recall in a discussion of how companies are tracking purchases. But since the word "irony" has been removed from all current dictionaries --Tim May -- (This .sig file has not been significantly changed since 1992. As the election debacle unfolds, it is time to prepare a new one. Stay tuned.)
Re: Gates to Privacy Rescue? Riiight!
At 2:27 PM -0800 12/10/00, petro wrote: Mr. May: The author also mentions that consumers dislike (so?) tracking of their purchases...and then in the next paragraphs cites the Firestone tire recall as an example of better policy than most Web sites have (or something like this...I re-read his analogy several times and still wasn't sure what his claim was). But I took that statement to mean that if Firestone exercised the same level of diligence in the engineering of their tires that most web sites used, they would be recalling a *LOT* more tires, enough to make the current recall a drop in the bucket. Sure, but I was making the point that this is an ironic example, as it was the records which Firestone and Ford kept of their customers which allowed them to send recall letters out to those customers! Oh, I wasn't speaking to that--I agree that there is a degree of irony there. I was just replying to the specific sentences quoted. -- A quote from Petro's Archives: ** "Despite almost every experience I've ever had with federal authority, I keep imagining its competence." John Perry Barlow
Re: Gates to Privacy Rescue? Riiight! (was Re: BNA's Internet Law News (ILN) - 12/8/00)
On Fri, Dec 08, 2000 at 09:07:38AM -0500, R. A. Hettinga wrote: | | At 8:30 AM -0500 on 12/8/00, BNA Highlights wrote: | | | THOUGH TECHNOLOGY MIGHT HELP PRIVACY | A meeting of business leaders in Redmond, Washington led to | a frank debate over the insufficiency of North American | action on consumer privacy and the potential for technology | to play a key role in protecting such privacy. For example, | Bill Gates announced that the next version of IE would | better allow consumers to ascertain Web site privacy | policies. | http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/08/technology/08SECU.html http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/zd/20001207/tc/forrester_exec_injects_security_summit_with_harsh_truths_1.html REDMOND, Wash. -- Just a few hours after Bill Gates opened Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) SafeNet 2000 security summit here Thursday on an optimistic note, Forrester Research Inc.'s (Nasdaq:FORR - news) John McCarthy blew it all up. -- "It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -Hume
Re: Gates to Privacy Rescue? Riiight!
[[EMAIL PROTECTED] removed from the distribution list. They claimed not to want any politics discussion, and they are a closed list, so why is political discussion going to it?] At 11:50 AM -0500 12/8/00, Adam Shostack wrote: On Fri, Dec 08, 2000 at 09:07:38AM -0500, R. A. Hettinga wrote: | | At 8:30 AM -0500 on 12/8/00, BNA Highlights wrote: | | | THOUGH TECHNOLOGY MIGHT HELP PRIVACY | A meeting of business leaders in Redmond, Washington led to | a frank debate over the insufficiency of North American | action on consumer privacy and the potential for technology | to play a key role in protecting such privacy. For example, | Bill Gates announced that the next version of IE would | better allow consumers to ascertain Web site privacy | policies. | http://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/08/technology/08SECU.html http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/zd/20001207/tc/forrester_exec_injects_security_summit_with_harsh_truths_1.html REDMOND, Wash. -- Just a few hours after Bill Gates opened Microsoft Corp.'s (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) SafeNet 2000 security summit here Thursday on an optimistic note, Forrester Research Inc.'s (Nasdaq:FORR - news) John McCarthy blew it all up. I read the article (thanks for the URL). Nothing new, and, in fact, several of the old chestnuts about why regulation is needed. The author also mentions that consumers dislike (so?) tracking of their purchases...and then in the next paragraphs cites the Firestone tire recall as an example of better policy than most Web sites have (or something like this...I re-read his analogy several times and still wasn't sure what his claim was). But the irony of juxtaposing Firestone and "customers dislike tracking" is delicious indeed! It is the existence of customer records--generally voluntarily provided by the customer--that allowed Firestone and Ford to contact hundreds of thousands of Explorer owners. I wonder if the author appreciates the irony here? All of this folderol about laws being needed to control privacy must be fought at every stage. --Tim May -- (This .sig file has not been significantly changed since 1992. As the election debacle unfolds, it is time to prepare a new one. Stay tuned.)
