-Caveat Lector-
PRIVACY IN THE INFORMATION AGE
The right of privacy has been a major distinction between
democracies and dictatorships. But those who hold privacy in
high regard have seen their rights slowly eroded for decades --
and now the process could swiftly accelerate in the era of high
tech.
o A single company -- Acxiom Corp. in Conway, Ark. -- has a
database combining public and consumer information that
covers 95 percent of American households.
o A 1997 survey of 900 large companies by the American
Management Association found that nearly two-thirds
admitted to some form of electronic surveillance of their
employees.
o Intelligence agencies from America, Canada, Britain,
Australia and New Zealand jointly monitor all
international satellite-telecommunications traffic via a
system called "Echelon" which can pick specific words or
phrases from hundreds of thousands of messages.
o Tiny microphones can record whispered conversations across
the street or monitor them via the normally imperceptible
vibrations of window glass.
Among the dangers lurks the occasional benefit. In a few years'
time, supermarkets could check the contents of customers'
refrigerators -- compiling a shopping list as they run out of
edibles.
Is privacy a thing of the past? Legal experts reply that while
privacy statutes exist in the U.S. and other countries, courts
have found it almost impossible to pin down a precise legal
definition of it and privacy lawsuits hardly ever succeed.
The answer may be to rely on market solutions. Already some
companies are developing devices to thwart snoops -- such as
firms that forward e-mail stripped of any identifying
information.
Source: "The Surveillance Society," Economist, May 1, 1999.
For more on Business Issues
http://www.ncpa.org/pd/law/mcc/index4a.html
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