Privacy and the Law

First Legal Protection of Speech— First Amendment of Constitution: The First Amendment expressly prohibits the United States Congress from making laws "respecting an establishment of religion" or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, infringe the freedom of speech, infringe the freedom of the press, limit the right to peaceably assemble, or limit the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

First Legal Protection of Privacy—IV Amendment of Constitution: The right of people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

The Legal Right of Privacy Four Aspects: Protection from unreasonable intrusion upon one’s isolation (Web surfing) Protection from appropriation of one’s name or likeness (identity theft) Protection from unreasonable publicity placing one in a false light (publishing false information about an individual Protection from unreasonable publicity given to one’s private life. (medical records)

Definition of Privacy A human value that consists of; Right to control external influences Right to be alone Right to have no public personal identity Right not to be monitored Right to control personal information Reserve the right to control one’s personal information including methods of dissemination of that information.

Violations of Privacy Violated through: Intrusion Misuse of information Interception of information Information matching Consumer profiling is a threatening technology, and is dependent for its raw material on the seizing of personal data. Information Matching is the comparison of personal information held in one set of records with personal information held in another set of records for the purpose of producing or verifying information about an individual

Intrusion Wrongful entry Seizing possessions Hacking would follow this category Intrusion second to software piracy in computer crime

Misuse of Information Information is given to: Government Business Problem when used for unauthorized purposes Examples?

Interception of Information Eavesdropping Individual listen or record Tapping communication channels and listening

Information Matching Matching information in several databases and releasing the information Can be outdated or erroneous information that is matched.

Freedom of Information Act Passed in 1966 Amended in 1974 Gives the public access to certain government records. Two parts Outlines the info that government agencies are required to publish. Outlines the process to review the records

Fair Credit Reporting Act – 1970 Privacy Act of 1974 Regulates credit reporting bureaus. Privacy Act of 1974 Limits how the U.S. government collects, maintains, uses, and disseminates personal information.

Freedom of Information Electronic Communication Privacy Act – 1986 Extends the prohibitions against the unauthorized interception of electronic communication.

Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act - 1994 Required telephone companies to provide a certain level of government access to data.

HIPPA The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 – requires health care organizations to implement cost-effective procedures for exchanging medical data.

Privacy and Anonymity Data Encryption (Cryptography) is the science of encoding messages so that only the sender and receiver can understand them. Public key system uses two keys to encode and decode messages. Private key system uses a single key to both encode and decode

Treating Consumer Information Responsibly Code of Fair Information Practices Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development privacy guidelines Chief Privacy Officers Establish corporate data privacy policies and initiatives

Privacy in the Workplace Many organizations have set policies on the use of information technology. 78% of major U.S. firms record and review employee communications and activities. Phone calls E-mails Internet connections Computer files Videotaping

Honesty and Trust Honesty is the best policy – mother was right If you aren’t honest with the rest of the world, how can you hope to be honest with yourself??? Business from startup to retirement based on ethical principles Be a model of honest behavior yourself Monkey-see, monkey-do world “Ethical businesses attract ethical people”

Honesty and Trust cont’d Legendary entrepreneur Warren Buffet put it this way: “Trust is like the air we breathe. When it's present, nobody really notices. But when it's absent, everybody notices."