Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Technology

privacy in the digital age 383cally, so it can be reused indefinitely. Finally, the ability toaccess data anywhere on handheld or laptop computers mayalso reduce the need to make printouts.Further ReadingHarris, Tom. “How Laser Printers Work.” Available online. URL:http://home.howstuffworks.com/laser-printer.htm. AccessedAugust 17, 2007.“Printer Buying Guide” (Cnet Reviews). Available online. URL:http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-7604_7-1016838-1.html.Accessed August 17, 2007.“Printers: The Essential Buying Guide.” PC Magazine. Availableonline. URL: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1766,00.asp. Accessed August 17, 2007.Tyson, Jeff. “How Inkjet Printers Work.” Available online. URL:http://www.howstuffworks.com/inkjet-printer.htm. AccessedAugust 17, 2007.privacy in the digital ageQuoted in Fred H. Cate’s Privacy in the Information Age,legal scholar Alan F. Westin has defined privacy as “theclaim of individuals, groups, or institutions to determinefor themselves when, how, and to what extent informationabout themselves is communicated to others.”Since the mid-19th century, advances in communicationstechnology have raised new problems for people seekingto protect privacy rights. During the Civil War telegraphlines were tapped by both sides. In 1928, the U.S. SupremeCourt in Olmstead v. U.S. refused to extend Fourth Amendmentprivacy protections to prevent federal agents from tappingphone lines without a warrant. Almost 50 years later,the court would revisit the issue in Katz v. U.S. and rulethat telephone users did have an “expectation of privacy.”The decision also acknowledged the need to adapt legalprinciples to the realities of new technology.In the second half of the 20th century the growing useof computers would raise two basic kinds of privacy problems:surveillance and misuse of data.Surveillance and EncryptionSince much sensitive personal and business informationis now transmitted between or stored on computers, suchinformation is subject to new forms of surveillance or interception.Keystrokes can be captured using surreptitiouslyinstalled software and e-mails can be intercepted from serversor a user’s hard drive. Many employers now routinelymonitor employees’ computer activity at work, includingtheir use of the World Wide Web. When this practice ischallenged, courts have generally sided with the employer,accepting the argument that the computers at work exist forbusiness purposes, not private communications, and thusdo not carry much of an expectation of privacy. Employers,however, have been encouraged to spell out their employeemonitoring or surveillance policies explicitly. Outside theworkplace, some protection is offered by the ElectronicCommunications Privacy Act (ECPA), passed in 1986.Shadowy accounts about a secret system called Echelonhave suggested that the National Security Agency has inplace a massive system that can intercept worldwide communicationsranging from e-mail to cell phone conversations.Apparently, rooms full of supercomputers can siftthrough this torrent of communication, looking for keywords that might indicate a threat to the United States or itsallies. (Much communication is in “clear” text; the ability ofthe government to crack strong encryption is unclear.)Technology can be used to penetrate privacy, but it canalso be used to safeguard it (see encryption). Public keyencryption programs such as Pretty Good Privacy (PGP)can encode text so that it cannot be read without a veryhard-to-crackkey. The U.S. government, whose agenciesenjoyed powerful surveillance capabilities, initially foughtto suppress the use of encryption, but a combination ofunfavorable court decisions and the ability to spread softwareacross the Internet has pretty much decided the battlein favor of encryption users.In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September11, 2001, the federal government pressed for expanded surveillancepowers, some of which were granted in the USAPATRIOT Act of 2001. (The Foreign Intelligence SurveillanceAct [FISA] regulates wiretapping of U.S. persons toobtain foreign intelligence information, requiring that awarrant be obtained from a secret court. In 2008 after revelationsthat the administration was engaging in warrantlessdomestic surveillance outside of FISA, Congress passedan amendment that required FISA permission to wiretapAmericans living abroad.) Computerized surveillance andidentification systems (see biometrics) are also likely to beexpanded in airports in other public places as part of the“War on Terrorism.”Information PrivacyMany privacy concerns arise not from the activities of spyor police agencies, but from the potential for the misuse ofthe many types of personal information now collected bybusinesses or government agencies. As far back as 1972, theAdvisory Committee on Automated Personal Data Systemsrecommended the following standards to the secretary ofthe Department of Health, Education, and Welfare:1. There must be no personal data record-keeping systemswhose very existence is secret.2. There must be a way for an individual to find outwhat information about him/her is on record andhow it is used.3. There must be a way for an individual to correct oramend a record of identifiable information abouthim/her.4. There must be a way for an individual to preventinformation about him/her that was obtained forone purpose from being used or made available forother purposes without his/her consent.5. Any organization creating, maintaining, using, ordisseminating records of identifiable personal datamust guarantee the reliability of the data for theirintended use and must take precautions to preventmisuse of the data.The Federal Privacy Act of 1974 generally implementedthese principles with regard to data maintained by federal