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PRIVACY Forum Archive Document
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PRIVACY Forum Digest Tuesday, 11 August 1992 Volume 01 : Issue 12
Moderated by Lauren Weinstein (lauren@cv.vortex.com)
Vortex Technology, Topanga, CA, U.S.A.
===== PRIVACY FORUM =====
The PRIVACY Forum digest is supported in part by the
ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy.
CONTENTS
DNA databanking: Just what data? (Jerry Leichter)
[Gary Chapman: DNA databanking] (Brinton Cooper)
Interesting Solicitation (A. Padgett Peterson)
CNID press release (Nikki Draper)
Online Access To Congressional Information (James P. Love)
PDC '92 -- Advance Program (Paul Hyland)
PDC '92 -- Call for Posters (Paul Hyland)
*** Please include a RELEVANT "Subject:" line on all submissions! ***
*** Submissions without them may be ignored! ***
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The PRIVACY Forum is a moderated digest for the discussion and analysis of
issues relating to the general topic of privacy (both personal and
collective) in the "information age" of the 1990's and beyond. The
moderator will choose submissions for inclusion based on their relevance and
content. Submissions will not be routinely acknowledged.
ALL submissions should be addressed to "privacy@cv.vortex.com" and must have
RELEVANT "Subject:" lines. Submissions without appropriate and relevant
"Subject:" lines may be ignored. Subscriptions are by an automatic
"listserv" system; for subscription information, please send a message
consisting of the word "help" (quotes not included) in the BODY of a message
to: "privacy-request@cv.vortex.com". Mailing list problems should be
reported to "list-maint@cv.vortex.com". All submissions included in this
digest represent the views of the individual authors and all submissions
will be considered to be distributable without limitations.
The PRIVACY Forum archive, including all issues of the digest and all
related materials, is available via anonymous FTP from site "cv.vortex.com/",
in the "/privacy" directory. Use the FTP login "ftp" or "anonymous", and
enter your e-mail address as the password. The typical "README" and "INDEX"
files are available to guide you through the files available for FTP
access. PRIVACY Forum materials may also be obtained automatically via
e-mail through the listserv system. Please follow the instructions above
for getting the listserv "help" information, which includes details
regarding the "index" and "get" listserv commands, which are used to access
the PRIVACY Forum archive.
For information regarding the availability of this digest via FAX, please
send an inquiry to privacy-fax@cv.vortex.com, call (310) 455-9300, or FAX
to (310) 455-2364.
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VOLUME 01, ISSUE 12
Quote for the day:
"Uh oh..."
-- Last words reported to have been recorded
on the space shuttle Challenger's cockpit
voice recorder before the craft's explosion
on Jan 28, 1986.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Tue, 4 Aug 92 22:25:14 EDT
From: Jerry Leichter <leichter@lrw.com>
Subject: DNA databanking: Just what data?
An article in a recent issue of PRIVACY raises the issue of possible misuse
of DNA "fingerprinting" data, proposed to be collected from all prisoners.
Among the possible abuses cited are discrimination in hiring, insurance, and
so on.
While there are many potential (though, so far, only a few reported real)
problems with the proliferation of genetic data, I don't believe this is one
fo them. There's all sorts of different data that one can collect about
DNA. The data used in "genetic fingerprinting" is a representation of the
relative levels of a fairly small number of specific gene variations. There's
no information about anything else. The sensitive data concerns genetic
markers for various inherited conditions; these have to be tested for
specifically, and are not part of the "fingerprinting" data.
Certainly, there is likely to be SOME disease whose likelihood can be "read
out" of a "DNA fingerprint". The same could be said of blood type, racial
information, even traditional fingerprints. Knowing someone is 5 foot 3 and
weighs 275 pounds - certainly something that would appear in any prisoner's
file - would give pause to any life insurance company.
Identifying anything involving DNA with a complete genetic scan and then
worrying about the horrible privacy implications is like panicking over the
danger from light bulbs on being told that they give off light "radiation".
Many more facts are called for.
-- Jerry
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 92 14:39:17 EDT
From: Brinton Cooper <abc@BRL.MIL>
Subject: [Gary Chapman: DNA databanking]
DNA databanking is quite properly an object of concern to all of us and
it is appropriate for the scientific and technical communities to take a
hard look at its use as evidence in criminal trials.
Nothing, however, occurs in a vacuum. Years ago, Scientific American
examined the use of eyewitness testimony in tort cases and others. The
conclusions were far from gratifying. Yet, it does not appear that
any defense based upon these findings has been terribly successful in
ruling out such evidence as "conclusive prosecutorial evidence."
One cannot help but wonder how the rates of false convictions based upon
eyewitness testimony and DNA matching will compare. One wonders, too,
how one would ever "accredit" eyewitness testimony in a federal (or any
other) laboratory.
_Brint
------------------------------
Date: Wed, 5 Aug 92 15:45:52 -0400
From: padgett@tccslr.dnet.mmc.com (A. Padgett Peterson)
Subject: Interesting Solicitation
Just received in the mail my new DAK Catalogue (for those of you not
fortunate enough to be on Drew's mailing list, this is a California-based
super deal catalogue mostly on electronics, hi-fi, computers, and bread
makers).
Lately they have been pushing CD-ROM quite heavily with a featured $199.00
(dollars US) 800 (eight hundred) ms caddyless external CD-ROM and a plethora
of CD-ROM packages.
The item that caught my interest from a privacy standpoint was the
$129.00 (dollars US again) set of CD-ROMs containing "millions" of
names, phone numbers, and addresses for both US businesses and residences.
Could that heavily criticised address database from last year be surfacing
again in a rather unlikely spot ? (don't know, haven't seen it.
Warmly,
Padgett
[ DAK has their warehouse, offices, and walk-in store about 20
minutes from my area. I've been down there a number of times to
very carefully buy various items. The important thing to keep
in mind about DAK is that much of their merchandise consists of
closeouts or "old versions" of items that have already been
supersceded by later versions. One would have to wonder about the
degree of data "staleness" in a DAK CD-ROM nationwide white pages
(which is what I believe this item to be). -- MODERATOR ]
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 92 16:00:25 PDT
From: draper@Csli.Stanford.EDU (Nikki Draper)
Subject: CNID press release
PACIFIC BELL'S PHONE PRIVACY RINGS FALSE, SAYS
COMPUTER PROFESSIONALS FOR SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
PALO ALTO, Calif., August 10, 1992 -- Computer Professionals for
Social Responsibility (CPSR), a national alliance of professionals
concerned with the impact of technology on society based here,
expressed deep concern over Pacific Bell's attempt to gut a recent
California Public Utility Commission (PUC) order on Calling-Number
Identification (CNID). Pacific Bell has requested a rehearing on the
PUC restrictions. PacBell's proposal will eliminate important safety
and privacy protections in the Commission's order, CPSR charged.
CNID allows businesses to collect the phone numbers of customers
who call them.
The Commission's order guarantees privacy protections for all
Californians. PacBell proposes to eliminate a key privacy protection
called Per-Line Blocking with Per-Call Unblocking. This feature
prevents home numbers from being collected by businesses, unless
the caller decides to give it to them. Phone companies would prefer
to only offer per-call blocking, a scheme in which caller numbers are
always given out unless the caller remembers to dial a blocking code
before dialing the desired number.
"If this happens, Californians will inevitably receive more junk mail,
more annoying phone calls, and greater invasions of their privacy,
some of which may be dangerous," said CPSR Chair and user interface
expert, Dr. Jeff Johnson.
PacBell claims that CNID would give people more control over their
privacy by providing the phone number from the calling phone. This
is the wrong technological answer to the problem according to
Johnson. "What people want to know is who is calling, not what
phone is being used. If my wife's car breaks down and she calls me
from a pay phone, that's a call I want to answer. CNID doesn't give
me any information that will help me do that."
In PUC hearings held last year, Johnson accused the phone companies
of designing a service that is more useful for businesses in gathering
marketing data than for consumers in screening calls. Phone
companies are opposed to per-line blocking because it would
presumably result in more numbers being kept private, thereby
reducing the value of the CNID service to business subscribers.
"Phone companies don't want you to block your phone number when
you call movie theaters or appliance stores. The more times your
number is revealed to businesses, the better! So they oppose
reasonable blocking options and are pushing an error-prone one," he
said.
If only per-call blocking were available, residential phone customers
-- or their children, parents, grandparents, guests -- would often
forget to dial their blocking code before making a call, resulting in
frequent disclosure of private information to businesses without the
consent, and sometimes even without the knowledge, of the caller.
"Unless PacBell is willing to live within the very reasonable bounds
set by the PUC decision, the concerns of Californians will be far better
served if CNID is simply not offered at all," said Johnson.
"Subscriber privacy is more important that Pacific Bell's profits."
Founded in 1981, CPSR is a public interest alliance of computer
scientists and other professionals interested in the impact of
computer technology on society. As technical experts and informed
citizens, CPSR members provide the public and policy makers with
realistic assessments of the power, promise, and limitations of
computer technology. It is a national organization, with 21 chapters
throughout the United States. The organization also has program
offices in Washington D.C. and Cambridge, MA.
For information on CPSR, contact the national office at
415-322-3778 or cpsr@csli.stanford.edu.
------------------------------
Date: Mon, 10 Aug 1992 22:13:41 EDT
From: James P Love <LOVE@pucc.Princeton.EDU>
Subject: ONLINE ACCESS TO CONGRESSIONAL INFORMATION
----------------------------Original message----------------------------
Information Access Memorandum
To: Citizens interested in public access to government
information
Re: Public Access to U.S. House and Senate Legislative
Information Systems (LEGIS)
Date: July 21, 1992
Dear friend:
The following letter to Senator Ford (D-KY) and Representative
Rose (D-NC) asks for public access to the House and Senate LEGIS
systems. LEGIS provides online access to the full text of bills
before congress, as well as other items. Access is now
restricted to members of congress and their staff. (except for
limited walk-in service).
If you want to join us in asking for remote online access to this
important taxpayer funded information system, please provide us
with the following information, along with permission to add your
name to the letter.
Name
Affiliation
(for purposes of
identification only)
Address
City, State and Zip Code
Telephone (for verification)
email address
Please send (mail, fax, or email) this information to:
Taxpayer Assets Project
P.O. Box 19367
Washington, DC 20036
voice:202/387-8030
fax:202/234-5176
internettap@essential.org
Thank you.
James Love
Director
Taxpayer Assets Project
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Senator Ford
Chairman, Senate Committee
on Rules and Administration
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Representative Rose
Chairman, Committee on
House Administration
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
August XX, 1992
RE: Public Access to Senate and House LEGIS
Dear Sirs:
This letter is to request that the public be granted access to the
Legislative Information Systems operated by the United States Senate and
House of Representatives. These taxpayer financed information systems
provide online access to information of immense interest to millions of
citizens. (For purposes of this letter the two systems will be referred
to simply as LEGIS).
Examples of the information contained in LEGIS are:
- Summary information about the content and status of all
Senate and House bills, resolutions, floor amendments,
public and private laws
- Full text of the latest versions of Senate and House bills
- Summary information on all Presidential nominations
requiring Senate confirmation
- Summary information on treaties submitted to the Senate for
ratification
- Summary information on communications from the executive
branch and state and local governments on matters before the
Congress
Our specific recommendations are as follows:
1. CITIZENS SHOULD BE ABLE TO SEARCH LEGIS ONLINE FROM REMOTE
LOCATIONS.
While the public pays for the operation of LEGIS we have never
been allowed access, except for limited walk-in access in
Congressional reading rooms. This policy should change. In a
period when Congress is seeking to reform itself, it is
appropriate to extend access to these valuable information
systems beyond the members and staff of congress, to the citizens
whom they serve.
2. PUBLIC ACCESS TO LEGIS SHOULD BE MODELED ON THE PROPOSED GPO
GATEWAY TO GOVERNMENT/WINDO LEGISLATION.
As sponsors of S. 2813, the GPO Gateway to Government, and H.R.
2772, the GPO Wide Information Network for Data Online (WINDO),
you have worked hard to expand public access to federal
databases. Should the Gateway/WINDO become law, LEGIS should be
among its initial core databases. In any event, the approach
taken in these two bills is appropriate for LEGIS.
- The public should have the right to subscribe to online
access to LEGIS from remote locations. For most
subscribers, the cost of the subscription should be based on
the incremental cost of providing such access.
- LEGIS information should also be made available without
charge through the federal Depository Library Program. As
you know, this important program, which began in the middle
of the 19th century, is designed to promote universal access
to federal government information.
3. CONGRESS SHOULD REGULARLY SOLICIT FEEDBACK FROM LEGIS USERS
TO DETERMINE IF THE SYSTEM CAN BE IMPROVED.
There are several areas where LEGIS could be improved. For
example, some citizens may ask that Congress provide more
detailed information on voting, committee actions, or other
congressional business. Citizens should have opportunities to
identify the types of information that would be useful in
monitoring the actions of the Congress.
Your support for the Gateway/WINDO bills is deeply appreciated,
as are your other efforts to broaden public access to databases
and information systems that are financed by the taxpayer.
Please inform us of the specific steps that you will take to
broaden public access to LEGIS. Thank you.
Sincerely,
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The following persons will be among those signing the letter
asking for public access to LEGIS:
Joan Claybrook Howard C. Weaver
President Editor
Public Citizen Anchorage Daily News
2000 P Street, NW Box 149001
Washington, DC 20036 Anchorage, Alaska 99514-9001
Brian Kahin Jack D. Lail
Director, Information Metro Editor
Infrastructure Project, Knoxville News-Sentinel
Science, Technology and P.O. Box 59038
Public Policy Program Knoxville, TN 37950-9038
John F. Kennedy School of
Government, Harvard University Marc Rotenberg
79 John F. Kennedy St. Director, Washington Office
Cambridge, MA 02138 Computer Professionals for
Social Responsibility
Professor James Galbraith 666 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E.
LBJ School of Public Affairs Suite 303
and Department of Government Washington, DC 20003
University of Texas at Austin
Austin, TX James Love
Director
Howard Rheingold Taxpayer Assets Project
Editor P.O. Box 19367
Whole Earth Review Washington, DC 20036
27 Gate Five Road
Sausalito, CA 94965 Dr. James R. Veatch
hlr@well.sf.ca.us Nashville Tech Library
120 White Bridge Road
Nashville, TN 37209-4515
-----------------------------------------------------------------
James Love, Director VOICE: 609-683-0534
Taxpayer Assets Project FAX: 202-234-5176
P.O. Box 19367 INTERNET: love@essential.org
Washington, DC 20036
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1992 14:04:17 EDT
From: Paul Hyland <PHYLAND%GWUVM.BITNET@pucc.Princeton.EDU>
Subject: PDC '92 -- Advance Program
Advance Program
PDC'92: PARTICIPATORY DESIGN CONFERENCE
MIT Kresge Auditorium, Cambridge MA US
6-7 November 1992
PANEL: PARTICIPATION AND POWER
Charley Richardson and Raymond Scannell
PANEL: FLEXIBILITY AND TAILORABILITY IN SYSTEM AND WORK DESIGN
Kim Halskov Madsen, Hans Dooreward, Trond Knudsen
PANEL: FROM PARTICIPATORY DESIGN TO DEMOCRACY: SOCIAL CHANGE AS
BOTH CAUSE AND EFFECT
Steven E. Miller
PLENARY PAPER: RETROSPECTIVE
Andrew Clement. Participatory design projects: A retrospective
look
PAPERS: DESIGN PRACTICE
William L. Anderson, and William T. Crocca. Experiences in
reflective engineering practice: Co-development of product
prototypes
Ina Wagner. Caught in a web of fuzzy problems: Confronting the
ethical issues in systems design
Julian E. Orr and Norman C. Crowfoot. Design by anecdote -- The
use of ethnography to guide the application of technology to
practice
PAPERS: TECHNIQUES AND PRACTICES I: USING ARTIFACTS
Barbara Katzenberg and Peter Piela. Studying work language as an
aid in evolutionary design processes
Finn Kensing and Andreas Munk-Madsen. Participatory design:
Structure in the toolbox
Preben Mogensen and Randall H. Trigg. Artifacts as triggers for
participatory analysis
PAPERS: TECHNIQUES AND PRACTICES II: HANDS ON THE DESIGN
Peter Aiken and Kim Halskov Madsen. Some experiences with
cooperative interactive storyboard prototyping
Michael J. Muller, John G. Smith, David S. Miller, Ellen A.
White, and Daniel M. Wildman. Designing a groupware
implementation of a manual participatory design process
PAPERS: TECHNIQUES AND PRACTICES III: DIARIES
Karlheinz Kautz. Communication support for participatory design
projects
Kristin Braa. Influencing system quality by using process
documentation in prototyping projects
PAPERS: INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS
Erran Carmel, Randall Whitaker, and Joey F. George.
Participatory design versus joint application design: Trans-
Atlantic differences in systems development
Philip Kraft and Joergen Bansler. The collective resource
approach as a model of worker participation
PAPERS: ORGANIZATIONAL CONSTRAINTS
Yoram Reich, Suresh Konda, Ira Monarch, and Eswaran Subrahmanian.
Participation and design: An extended view
Jonathan P. Allen. Enabling participatory design in a tightly
integrated, hierarchical setting
Thea Turner, Suzi Levas, Mike Atwood, and Craig Reding. The
influence of the existing environment on the design of a new
workstation
PAPERS: ANALOGIES TO NON-COMPUTER FIELDS
Chengzhi Peng. Participatory architectural modeling: Common
images and distributed design environments
Joan Greenbaum. Notes toward a discussion of ethics and
esthetics: Scandinavian design -- from furniture to participatory
design
INTERACTIVE POSTERS
WORKSHOPS (parallel tracks, half-day)
Michael K. Epstein and Elaine K. Yakura. Managing the stresses
of participatory design
Robert Karasek. The conducivity game: Developing worker re-
coordination vocabularies
Debbie Mrazek and Tom Cocklin. A paradigm shift to customer
focus
Charley Richardson and Raymond Scannell. Participation and power
workshop
Elizabeth B.-N. Sanders. Participatory design research in the
product development process
COMMITTEES:
Conference Committee: William Anderson, JoAnn Brooks, Andrew
Clement, Paul Czezewski, Elizabeth Dykstra Erickson, Dan Franklin,
Sarah Kuhn, Michael McFarland, Judith A. Meskill, Susan Miller,
Michael Muller, Ken Schroder, Melanie Weaver, Ellen White, and
Dan Williams.
Program Committee: William Anderson, Susanne Bodker, JoAnn
Brooks, Andrew Clement, Joan Greenbaum, Marc Griffiths, Jonathan
Grudin, Susan Harker, Pertti Jarvinen, Sarah Kuhn, Kim Halskov
Madsen, Andrew Monk, Michael Muller, Horst Oberquelle, Charley
Richardson, Lucy Suchman, Kari Thoresen, and Terry Winograd.
Co-chairs: Sarah Kuhn, Michael Muller.
PDC'92 is sponsored by Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility, and is in cooperation with ACM SIGCHI, IFIP, and
the Greater Boston SIGCHI chapter, with corporate sponsorship
by Xerox PARC.
For more information: Please contact either co-chair:
Sarah Kuhn
Department of Policy and Planning
University of Massachusetts - Lowell
Pasteur 2B
Lowell MA 01854 US
+1-508-934-2903 (voice)
+1-508-934-3011 (fax)
kuhns@woods.ulowell.edu
Michael Muller
Bellcore, Room RRC-1H229
444 Hoes Lane
Piscataway NJ 08854 US
+1-908-699-4892 (voice)
+1-908-336-2969 (fax)
michael@bellcore.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 11 Aug 1992 14:02:56 EDT
From: Paul Hyland <PHYLAND%GWUVM.BITNET@pucc.Princeton.EDU>
Subject: PDC '92 -- Call for Posters
Call for POSTERS - 15 August 1992
PDC'92 - Participatory Design Conference
MIT Kresge Auditorium
Cambridge MA US
6-7 November 1992
Computer technology today has a profound effect on our
workplaces, communities, homes, and social institutions.
Decisions about the design and implementation of computerized
systems influence the character, pace, and organization of work,
the extent of our privacy or isolation, and our ability to take
an active role in our social, political, and economic lives.
Participatory design examines the questions:
o Who makes these decisions? and
o How can we include the people who are directly affected
by the technology and whose expertise is essential to making
the technology fit into the users' lives? and
o What processes, methods, and technologies support more
inclusive decision-making?
The Participatory Design Conference will bring together computer
specialists, human factors workers, scholars, members of the
labor and business communities, human resource workers, and
design professionals from other fields. It will be practice- and
action- oriented, interdisciplinary, international, and
participatory.
Possible topics:
o Defining Participatory Design
o Issues of particular user constituencies
o Case studies of design processes
o Methods for Participatory Design
o Reports on work in progress
o National and cultural contexts of design
o Constraints on Participatory Design
o Theories of design
o Participatory research practices
o PD in non-computer fields
Other relevant topics are also welcome!
Submission requirements: Poster proposals will be accepted until
15 August 1992. Please provide a 1500 word abstract and, if
possible, an informal sketch of the poster. We also request a
cover sheet with the following information:
o primary contact author (with as much contact information
as possible),
o a 100 word abstract, and
o an indication of which of the above topics is addressed
by the submission.
Send 5 copies of each proposal. Notifications regarding poster
proposals will be sent out by 1 September 1992. We plan to
publish posters in the Conference Proceedings by title only;
poster abstracts will be published in the Conference Program.
Please send all submissions to the following address:
Michael J. Muller / PDC'92
Bellcore RRC-1H229, 444 Hoes Lane, Piscataway NJ 08854 US
michael@bellcore.com
+1 908 699 4892 (voice)
+1 908 336 2932 (fax)
The Conference is organized by Computer Professionals for Social
Responsibility, and is in cooperation with ACM, IFIP, and Greater
Boston SIGCHI, with corporate sponsorship by Xerox PARC. The
Conference co-chairs are Sarah Kuhn and Michael Muller. Program
Committee: William Anderson, Susanne Bodker, JoAnn Brooks,
Andrew Clement, Joan Greenbaum, Jonathan Grudin, Susan Harker,
Pertti Jarvinen, Sarah Kuhn, Kim Halskov Madsen, Andrew Monk,
Michael Muller, Horst Oberquelle, Charley Richardson, Lucy
Suchman, Kari Thoresen, and Terry Winograd.
------------------------------
End of PRIVACY Forum Digest 01.12
************************
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