Regulating Online Speech / Privacy

1. Regulating Online Speech / Privacy Week 4 - February 7, 9

2. Class debate #2 • High schools should use Internet content filters to block inappropriate content.

3. Guest speaker: Serge Egelman

4. Homework 2 discussion • http://cups.cs.cmu.edu/courses/compsoc-sp07/homework/hw2.html • Spam counter measures

5. Administrivia • Homework 3 • http://cups.cs.cmu.edu/courses/compsoc-sp07/homework/hw3.html • Debate 3 assignments

6. What does privacy mean to you?

7. What is privacy? “Being alone.” - Shane (age 4)

8. Westin “Privacy and Freedom” 1967 • “Privacy is the claim of individuals, groups or institutions to determine for themselves when, how, and to what extent information about them is communicated to others” • Privacy is not an absolute

9. Privacy as process “Each individual is continually engaged in a personal adjustment process in which he balances the desire for privacy with the desire for disclosure and communication….” - Alan Westin, 1967

10. Westin’s four states of privacy • Solitude • individual separated from the group and freed from the observation of other persons • Intimacy • individual is part of a small unit • Anonymity • individual in public but still seeks and finds freedom from identification and surveillance • Reserve • the creation of a psychological barrier against unwanted intrusion - holding back communication

11. Westin’s four functions of privacy • Personal autonomy • control when you go public about info • Emotional release • be yourself • permissible deviations to social or institutional norms • Self-evaluation • Limited and protected communication

12. Different views of privacy • Privacy as limited access to self • the extent to which we are known to others and the extent to which others have physical access to us • Privacy as control over information • not simply limiting what others know about you, but controlling it • this assumes individual autonomy, that you can control information in a meaningful way (not blind click through, for example)

13. Privacy as animal instinct • Is privacy necessary for species survival? Eagles eating a deer carcass http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/eagle/CaptureE63.html

14. Multiple facets of privacy • How can posting personal information about myself on my web site result in a reduction of my privacy? How can it result in an increase in my privacy?

15. Privacy surveys find concerns • Increasingly people say they are concerned about online privacy (80-90% of US Net users) • Improved privacy protection is factor most likely to persuade non-Net users to go online • 27% of US Net users have abandoned online shopping carts due to privacy concerns • 64% of US Net users decided not to use a web site or make an online purchase due to privacy concerns • 34% of US Net users who do not buy online would buy online if they didn’t have privacy concerns

16. Beyond concern • April 1999 Study: Beyond Concern:Understanding Net Users' Attitudes About Online Privacy by Cranor, Ackerman and Reagle (US panel results reported) http://www.research.att.com/projects/privacystudy/ • Internet users more likely to provide info when they are not identified • Some types of data more sensitive than others • Many factors important in decisions about information disclosure • Acceptance of persistent identifiers varies according to purpose • Internet users dislike automatic data transfer

17. Few read privacy policies • 3% review online privacy policies carefully most of the time • Most likely to review policy before providing credit card info • Policies too time consuming to read and difficult to understand • 70% would prefer standard privacy policy format • Most interested in knowing about data sharing and how to get off marketing lists • People are more comfortable at sites that have privacy policies, even if they don’t read them

18. Survey references • Mark S. Ackerman, Lorrie Faith Cranor and Joseph Reagle, Beyond Concern: Understanding Net Users’ Attitudes About Online Privacy, (AT&T Labs, April 1999), http://www.research.att.com/projects/privacystudy/ • Mary J. Culnan and George R. Milne, The Culnan-Milne Survey on Consumers & Online Privacy Notices: Summary of Responses, (December 2001), http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/glb/supporting/culnan-milne.pdf. • Cyber Dialogue, Cyber Dialogue Survey Data Reveals Lost Revenue for Retailers Due to Widespread Consumer Privacy Concerns, (Cyber Dialogue, November 7, 2001), http://www.cyberdialogue.com/news/releases/2001/11-07-uco-retail.html. • Forrester Research, Privacy Issues Inhibit Online Spending, (Forrester, October 3, 2001). • Louis Harris & Associates and Alan F. Westin, Commerce, Communication and Privacy Online (Louis Harris & Associates, 1997), http://www.privacyexchange.org/iss/surveys/computersurvey97.html • Louis Harris & Associates and Alan F. Westin. E-Commerce and Privacy, What Net Users Want, (Sponsored by Price Waterhouse and Privacy & American Business. P & AB, June 1998). http://www.privacyexchange.org/iss/surveys/ecommsum.html • Opinion Research Corporation and Alan F. Westin. “Freebies” and Privacy: What Net Users Think. Sponsored by Privacy & American Business. P & AB, July 1999. http://www.privacyexchange.org/iss/surveys/sr990714.html • Privacy Leadership Initiative, Privacy Notices Research Final Results, (Conducted by Harris Interactive, December 2001), http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/workshops/glb/supporting/harris%20results.pdf An extensive list of privacy surveys from around the world is available from http://www.privacyexchange.org/iss/surveys/surveys.html.

19. Privacy and Pizza • http://www.aclu.org/pizza/