Chapter: Privacy Protection, Control of Information, and Privacy-Enhancing Technologies

Quote:

We believe this tradition of identifying the concept of privacy with control is misleading. Control of personal information is extremely important as, of course, is privacy. But, these concepts are more useful when treated as separable, mutually supporting concepts than as one. A good theory of privacy has at least three components: an account of the concept of privacy, an account of the justification for privacy, and an account of the management of privacy. This tripartite structure of the theory of privacy is important to keep in mind that because each part of the theory performs a different function. To give an account of one if the parts is not to give an account of the others. The concept of privacy itself is best defined in terms of restricted access, not control. Privacy is fundamentally about protection from intrusion and information gathering by others. Individual control of personal information, on the other hand, is part of the justification of privacy and plays a role in the management of privacy. Privacy and control do it fit together naturally, just not in the way people often state.

What I expect to learn:

To be aware of the different privacy protection methods

Review:                    

Privacy is a huge topic because it does not tackle only privacy itself but also pulls the different methods of control and enhancing privacy of one person. I’m sure life is such a tough place to hide ourselves. I even heard of a saying that “No secret will remain unknown” which is what we are going to discuss about.

IT may not be obvious but privacy is something essential for our being to be complete which is why the term “secret” came about – something that we ought to keep that may make or break us as a human being. In information technology, it’s a whole different story because in IT, privacy is one of the main concerns of users leading developers of create programs that will satisfy the users’ need for privacy like encryption tools, decryption tools, security file managers and a lot more. We should never mess with someone’s preferred private work because once we did, we will cause great impact on that person which can also harm him physically or emotionally. This concept of privacy does not only apply in the IT industry but also goes well in real life. Knowing that it is, it will allow us to know our limitations and it will let us discover our need to become someone who does not tinker with someone else’s work. We learn to accept that all of us deserve privacy and we all deserve it now. It is similar to having a shadow, it’s there sometimes for people to see and most of the time, it is not there for the world to see.

What I learned:

·         The theory of privacy

·         Normative privacy and the restricted access theory

·         The use control in the justification and management of privacy

·         Privacy-enhancing technologies

·         PETs

·         PETs and the role of individual choice in controlling personal information

·         PETs and the principle of informed consent

·         PET owners beware

Integrative Questions:            

1.    What is PETs?

2.    Why is it appealing?

3.    Explain the theory of privacy.

4.    What do you mean by “informed consent”?

What is the normative privacy?