--- begin forwarded text X-Sender: oldbear@tiac.net Date: Tue, 12 Nov 1996 19:59:39 -0500 To: Digital Commerce Society of Boston <dcsb@ai.mit.edu> From: The Old Bear <oldbear@arctos.com> Subject: "Perceptions and Misperceptions of Privacy on the Net" Mime-Version: 1.0 Sender: bounce-dcsb@ai.mit.edu Precedence: bulk Reply-To: The Old Bear <oldbear@arctos.com> The George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science Cyberspace Policy Institute FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC Tuesday, November 19, 1996 4-6 p.m. Room 410 Marvin Center, 21st & H St. NW, Washington, DC "PERCEPTIONS AND MISPERCEPTIONS OF PRIVACY ON THE NET" Speaker: Steven Emmert, Corporate Counsel for Lexis-Nexis Commentators: William W. Burrington, Assistant General Counsel, America Online Deidre Mulligan, Staff Counsel, Center for Democracy and Technology Privacy norms, regulations, and laws have been developed over the years, in balance with norms, regulations and laws governing access to government information and open meetings. The advent of widespread Internet use has called into question some previously unchallenged uses of information, reopened discussion on some problems once thought resolved, and raised new questions which have never been addressed. In addition to the commercial players involved, individuals, in greater numbers than at any time in the past, have joined these discussions about the proper uses of information. LEXIS-NEXIS recently experienced this increased individual participation first hand following the release of a commercial product, P-TRAK. This product, which makes limited information about individuals available to LEXIS-NEXIS' subscribers (typically law firms, Fortune 1000 corporations, and government agencies including federal law enforcement agencies) became the centerpiece of an Internet controversy about privacy. Information and misinformation about P-TRAK was widely disseminated on the Internet (and still is) and in the mainstream media. In response to this controversy, the Congress directed the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, in consultation with the Federal Trade Commission, to conduct a study of whether organizations which are not subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act are engaged in the business of making sensitive consumer identification information available to the general public. Senators Bryan, Pressler, and Hollings have requested "that the FTC conduct a study of possible violations of consumer privacy rights by companies that operate computer data bases." As these studies proceed it will be important for all concerned -- corporations, individuals, the government, law enforcement and others-- to ensure they fully understand the issues and policies involved in order to strike the proper balance between the legitimate information needs of businesses, professionals, individuals, the press, the public, government and law enforcement, and an individual's right to privacy. Lessons learned from this experience will be shared. The policy and legal issues raised will be identified. Implications for the future of the Internet and for electronic commerce in information will be discussed. Additional information on this and other seminars is available at www.cpi.seas.gwu.edu/Activities/Seminars/96-97.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe from this list, send a letter to: Majordomo@ai.mit.edu In the body of the message, write: unsubscribe dcsb Or, to subscribe, write: subscribe dcsb If you have questions, write to me at Owner-DCSB@ai.mit.edu --- end forwarded text ----------------- Robert Hettinga (rah@shipwright.com) e$, 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA "The cost of anything is the foregone alternative" -- Walter Johnson The e$ Home Page: http://www.vmeng.com/rah/