Privacy

Leslie N. Gruis

Description

Top analyst Leslie Gruis’s timely new book argues that privacy is an individual right and democratic value worth preserving, even in a cyberized world. Since the time of the printing press, technology has played a key role in the evolution of individual rights and helped privacy emerge as a formal legal concept.
All governments exercise extraordinary powers during national security crises. In the United States, many imminent threats during the twentieth century induced heightened government intrusion into the privacy of Americans. The Privacy Act of 1974 and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA, 1978) reversed that trend. Other laws protect the private information of individuals held in specific sectors of the commercial world. Risk management practices were extended to computer networks, and standards for information system security began to emerge. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) incorporated many such standards into its Cybersecurity Framework, and is currently developing a Privacy Framework. These standards all contribute to a patchwork of privacy protection which, so far, falls far short of what the U.S. constitutional promise offers and what our public badly needs. Greater privacy protections for U.S. citizens will come as long as Americans remember how democracy and privacy sustain one another, and demonstrate their commitment to them.

Sujets

• Computer Science
• Information Technology
• Political Science
• Security studies
• Internet security
• American studies
• United States Constitution
• Ethics
• Constitutional law
• National Security
• Privacy
• Law
• Intelligence

Informations

• Publié par: Academica Press
• Date de parution: 20 février 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781680539714
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

Privacy Past, Present, and Future
Leslie N. Gruis
Privacy Past, Present, and Future
Leslie N. Gruis
Academica Press London Washington
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Gruis, Leslie N., author.
Title: Privacy : past, present, and future / Leslie N. Gruis. Description: Washington : Academica Press, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: Top analyst Leslie Gruis s timely new book argues that privacy is an individual right and democratic value worth preserving, even in a cyberized world. Since the time of the printing press, technology has played a key role in the evolution of individual rights and helped privacy emerge as a formal legal concept - Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019055589 | ISBN 9781680531862 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781680539714 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Privacy, Right of-United States. | Information technology-Social aspects-United States. | Information society-United States.
Classification: LCC JC596.2.U5 G78 2020 | DDC 323.44/80973-dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019055589
Copyright 2020 Leslie N. Gruis
Dedication
To my partner in mischief John, my son Ben, and my feline muses, the omnipresent P and the ephemeral Q
Contents
Foreword
Chapter 1 Introduction
PART I The Origins of Privacy in England and the United States
Chapter 2 The Origins of Privacy in English Constitutional History
Chapter 3 The Origins of Privacy in US Constitutional History
Chapter 4 What Hath God Wrought, and Other Perils of Technology
Chapter 5 How the Printing Press Shaped Free Speech Law in Great Britain
Chapter 6 How Privacy Emerged in the United States
PART II The Present
Chapter 7 The Privacy Act
Chapter 8 Privacy in Communications
Chapter 9 Privacy Law Comes to the Commercial World
Chapter 10 Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance
Chapter 11 Privacy Frameworks Emerge for Cyberspace
PART III The Future of Privacy
Chapter 12 Future: Now What?
Bibliography
Index
Foreword
Three things laid the groundwork for this book.
First, I grew up in Washington, DC - two blocks from the U.S. Capitol - in the 1960s, and 1970s. Even though I may not have understood how, my world was shaped by the events of the time. I remember the inauguration of John F. Kennedy, where all sorts of military armaments were paraded down the street as a show of force to the Soviets, who were surely watching. I remember the assassination of President Kennedy, and seeing his body lie in state in the Capitol building. I remember the riots after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. My mom, a Congressional staffer, whisked my little sister and me away to stay with relatives in the suburbs, while my father, an attorney, stayed in DC to make sure those arrested were accorded their civil rights. I remember realizing when I was about ten that living where we did, we would be the first to be incinerated when the Soviet nukes came. Like any little kid, I tried to make sense of these incongruencies - the Soviet threat, American civil disobedience, and democracy. I was raised a patriot, and am still one today. I would live that patriotism for 30 years working as a mathematician for the National Security Agency.
Second, in 1989 the Berlin Wall fell. The bipolar Cold War world had been certain in its uncertainty. That suddenly crumbled, leaving us with a unipolar world, spinning tentatively around a single axis of power. It was as if we were watching the aftermath of a supernova, waiting to see how the remaining bodies of world politics would stabilize. At that point, the American psyche could not comprehend a threat posed by terrorists like that which would occur on September 11, 2001. The world changed.
Third, a project from the Cold War, the Department of Defense s ARPANET, would emerge in the 1990s, as the internet. In 1999, I read Lawrence Lessig s book Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace . He talked about how West Coast code (i.e. computer code from Silicon Valley, etc.) was challenging East Coast code (federal legislation). He talked about how the virtual realm of cyberspace challenged traditional values and norms associated with the physical world.
Lessig s book got my juices flowing on the topic of cyberspace and what kind of order would emerge from it. It also made me wonder about the future of privacy. You hold in your hands the product of these musings.
I would like to thank my husband, John Kolm, my partner in mischief, adventure, and parenthood. I could not have asked for a better life partner. He encouraged me throughout the writing of this book. A professional writer himself, John spent countless hours teaching me his craft. He taught me to tell a better story, and helped me brainstorm new ideas. He commented on and edited my writing. He provided apt criticism, with the patience and guidance of a sympathetic master toward an aspiring apprentice. When I found it frustrating that his writing seemed so effortless and polished, John reassured me that he had honed this skill through decades of practice. He was right. I am not there yet, but writing has gotten easier over the last three years.
I would like to thank my son, Ben Cashman, for his patient support throughout the writing of this book. An aspiring writer, historian, and teacher himself, Ben graduated from Sarah Lawrence College at the tail end of this project. Ben reminded me about the formal rules of writing, many of which I had long forgotten. His persistent reminders helped me make sense of Picasso s quip to learn the rules like a pro so you can break them like an artist. Ben was also a valuable source of information about European history. Every time I painted myself into a corner, Ben was there to help me understand the history of Western Europe, usually England, which shaped the period I was writing about in this book. His knowledge of different periods of European history was invaluable to me. I only hope my efforts here help inspire his future success.
I would like to thank Paul du Quenoy of Academica Press. At the end of a talk I gave at the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC, he offered to be my publisher. I said yes. If I have learned anything in this life, it is to embrace good fortune when it comes. I will be eternally thankful for Paul s belief in me, and hope that this book does not disappoint.
I would like to thank Sean Kanuck, for whom I worked at the National Intelligence Council (NIC). As the National Intelligence Officer for Cyber, Sean believed I had something important to say about the future of privacy in a cyberized world. I remember the day he told me I should just go and write the book, that I was perfectly capable. His words gave me the final vote of confidence I needed to jump into an unknown future of attempted authorship. Here we are.
I would like to thank Todd Rosenthal, who patiently read chapter after chapter of my book, and offered comments.
I would like to thank all my friends, who have steadfastly stood by me while I reinvented myself as an author. I am blessed to have many friends - Anne-Marie, Becky, Susan, and others - who have always been there for me. Their belief in my abilities has given me the courage to chase rainbows.
Chapter 1
Introduction
The two greatest demands a free people places on its government are easily stated. Firstly, keep us safe. Secondly, leave us alone. At first blush, this appears to be an oxymoron. How can we cede sufficient authority to the government to guarantee our national security, while still preserving our private lives? In fact, this has been the great experiment of the United States of America.
This conflict of needs has been with us since the beginning. Our constitution says that the government must collect private information about its citizens to fairly apportion representation and taxes. The Declaration of Independence assures us that we have the inalienable right to be left in peace to enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
This book is about how these two great promises can be resolved, how we got where we are today, and where we may go in the future. The ideas are immediately relevant to everyone who wants both liberty and protection, and to everyone who wants the same things for their children.
As a privacy specialist with 30 years experience at the National Security Agency, I ve heard all the jokes and fears about the government spying on its citizens. But in fact, the real threat today comes from a different and perhaps unexpected direction. It is the commercial world that is spying on you for the most part, using cyberspace to collect your most intimate personal details in giant nets as though you were one small fish in a never-ending harvest. The reason is simple, and it has nothing to do with morality or with your rights as a citizen. Countless billions of dollars are at stake.
What can we do? Is the intrusion of privacy into our private lives unstoppable? Do we just have to accept the mining of our health and financial data and the tracking of our children as the inevitable consequence of progress? And does it really matter? Is the very notion of privacy outdated, an idea that seems anachronistic to our children, an aging trope that s destined for the scrap-heap along with dancing the Charleston and fighting by Marquis of Queensbury rules?
Let s start the journey, and see what we can find out.
The Story of Alice
Alice is thirteen, going on 35.
You are her parent, and Alice is going out with friends tonight. She s all dressed up and looking like an adult. She Facetimes her plans and movements for the evening, Instagrams her friends about her romantic hopes, and Snapchats a picture o