Control and Code: Privacy Online

April 10

Code is law; the architecture of the Internet and the software that runs on it will determine to a large extent how the Net is regulated in a way that goes far deeper than legal means could ever achieve (or at least ever achieve alone). Technological advances have also produced many tempting options for regulation and surveillance that may severely alter the balance of privacy, access to information and sharing of intellectual property. By regulating behavior, technological architectures or codes embed different values and political choices. Yet code is often treated as a technocratic affair, or something best left to private economic actors pursuing their own interests. If code is law, then control of code is power. If important questions of social ordering are at stake, shouldn't the design and development of code be brought within the political process? In this class we delve into the technological alternatives that will shape interactions over the Internet, as well as the implications of each on personal freedom, privacy and combating cyber-crime.

Readings

• Jonathan Zittrain, Future of the Internet, Chapter 9: Privacy 2.0
• Abelson, Ledeen, Lewis, Blown to Bits, Chapter 2: Naked in the Sunlight: Privacy Lost, Privacy Abandoned
• Solveig Singleton, Privacy as Censorship (CATO)
• Noam Cohen, It’s Tracking Your Every Move and You May Not Even Know (NYTimes, March 26, 2011)

Optional Readings

• NPR On the Media Story "Anonymous Justice"
• "Making Sense of Privacy and Publicity." Transcript of talk given by Danah Boyd at SXSW. Austin, Texas, March 13, 2010
• Lawrence Lessig, Code 2.0: Privacy
• http://paranoia.dubfire.net/2009/12/8-million-reasons-for-real-surveillance.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_flesh_search_engine

Links

Get in the ring: US, Europe vow to bash out Internet personal privacy protection --Gclinch 21:51, 30 March 2011 (UTC)

New York Times op-ed on new privacy legislation being considered by Sen. Kerry: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/opinion/19sat2.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=privacy%20on%20the%20internet&st=cse --[[sjennings 20:03, 6 April 2011 (UTC)]]

Slate's (skeptical) take on online privacy: http://www.slate.com/id/2290719 BrandonAndrzej 03:25, 9 April 2011 (UTC)

Also, a link to the FTC filing mentioned in the above article (regarding Google Buzz): http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2011/03/google.shtm BrandonAndrzej 03:42, 9 April 2011 (UTC)

The internet in action: "My Dad is Li Gang!", courtesy of Know Your Meme. http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/my-dad-is-li-gang-%E6%88%91%E7%88%B8%E6%98%AF%E6%9D%8E%E5%88%9A BrandonAndrzej 06:05, 11 April 2011 (UTC)

I found this to be an interesting read; it is a summary of federal laws and presidential directives regarding Internet security. http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL32357.pdf Joshuasurillo 12:01, 11 May 2011 (UTC)

iPhone or iSpy? Feds, Lawyers Tackle Mobile Privacy: "A proposed class-action lawsuit filed last week alleges that Apple and a handful of app makers are invading user privacy by accessing personal data from customers’ smartphones without permission and sharing it with third-party advertisers." -- http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/04/iphone-ispy/ Alex 5:21, 12 April 2011

A related link profiling Generation C who may have fewer privacy qualms. Also, feel free to join us in Cambridge for beers after class next week on 4/19. --SCL 01:07, 13 April 2011 (UTC)

Reading about Generation C is just overwhelming. If anything, it's a better name for Gen Y/Millenials. To entrust one's life and be connected 24/7 (and assume everyone will be better off) just seems preposterous, but I see it everyday--and not just with that generation but with others. I'm a Gen X-er and call me old fashioned, but truth be told, if I'm looking at my phone like all the others on the T, I'm checking the time or deleting text messages, that's it. Myra 20:13, 10 May 2011 (UTC)