[Air-l] How is the Internet bad for us?

Tue Jun 21 05:34:17 PDT 2005

Hi David,

you also wrote:

> My favourite book on the former issue is Garfinkel, S. (2000)
> Database Nation, O'Reilly, Cambridge but it is not an academic text.
> I would love to be able to say something in my lit review about
> either of these privacy issues but it is hard to measure the extent
> or the effects of such intrusion. Has anyone found any effects-based
> papers on either of these points?
> 
> Or failing that could you recommend what you consider the key
> academic texts about the online privacy issue in general so I can
> cite them and add, "clearly more research is needed"?

I'll be eager to see and review what others have recommended / might
recommend: here's what I can share for the time being on privacy.

In Information Ethics proper, the following are primary resources:

Johnson, Deborah. 2001. Computer Ethics. 3rd. ed. Upper Saddle River, New
Jersey: Prentice-Hall. (Chapter 5 on privacy is a classic, if by now a touch
dated.)

Michelfelder, Diane. 2001. The moral value of informational privacy in
cyberspace. Ethics and Information Technology 3(2): 129-135.

Spinello, Richard A. and Herman T. Tavani (eds.). 2004. Readings in
CyberEthics, 2nd edition. Boston: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.
[extensive chapter (4) on privacy, including:

Moor, James H. Toward a Theory of Privacy for the Information Age. 407-417.
Elgesem, Dag. The Structure of Rights in Directive 95/46/EC on the
Protection of Individuals with Regard to the Processing of Personal Data and
the Free Movement of Such Data. 418-435.
Herman T. Tavani and James H. Moore.  Privacy Protection, Control of
Information and Privacy-Enhancing Technologies. 436-449.
Nissenbaum, Helen. Toward an Approach to Privacy in Public: Challenges of
Information Technology. 450-
Vedder, Anton H.  KDD, Privacy, Individuality, and Fairness. 462-470.
Fulda, Joseph S. Data Mining and Privacy. 471-475.
Introna, Lucas D. Workplace Surveillance, Privacy, and Distributive Justice.
476-487.
Van den Hoven, Jeroen. Privacy and the Varieties of Informational
Wrongdoing. 488-500.

Stahl, Bernd Carsten. 2004. Responsible Management of Information Systems.
Hershey, Pennsylvania: Idea Group.
[Stahl develops a very robust and cross-cultural notion of "reflective
responsibility" - one intended to work as a bridge concept between applied
ethicists, on the one hand, and professionals in computer and information
sciences, on the other.  He applies this notion specifically to the question
of whether or not a company should use surveillance technology on its
employees.
This nicely complements the focus in Tavani on surveillance of customers
through technologies such as data mining, etc.

Tavani, Herman T. 2004. Ethics and Technology: Ethical Issues in an Age of
Information and Communication Technology. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley
and Sons. 
[For an introduction to Information Ethics, this is the best text I've found
- I've just used it in a graduate course at NTNU with both philosophy
graduate students and a computer science professional; it worked very well
indeed, I'm pleased to say.]

If you read German, the following are basics:

Bizer, Johann. 2003. Grundrechte im Netz: Von der freien Meinungsäußerung
bis zum Recht auf Eigentum. In Schulzki-Haddouti (Hrsg.), 21-29.

Schulzki-Haddouti, Christiane (Hrsg.). 2003. Bürgerrechte im Netz. Bonn:
Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung. Available online:
<http://www.bpb.de/publikationen/UZX6DW,,0,B%fcrgerrechte_im_Netz.html>

Wassermann, Rudolf. 2003.  Das Grundgesetz: Anspruch und Verpflichtung.  In
Schulzki-Haddouti (Hrsg.), 13-20.

Kuhlen, Rainer. 2004. Informationsethik. Umgang mit Wissen und Information
in elektronischen Räumen. Universitätsverlag Konstanz.

There's a great deal more to add here in the direction of concepts of
privacy and data privacy protection laws in Asia (including several things
currently under review that thus, for better and for worse, I can't cite
just yet) - but as a start you can look at:

Mizutani, Masahiko, James Dorsey and James H. Moor. 2004. The internet and
Japanese conception of privacy, Ethics and Information Technology 6:
121128.

"Protection of Privacy in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan"
<http://newmedia.cityu.edu.hk/cyberlaw/gp15/cnlaw1.html>
(This is from an online course on "Protection of Privacy in China, Hong Kong
and Taiwan," created by Michelle Chiu, Anthony Lee and Tsui Hou Ming: very
good overview!  Unfortunately, it's also been taken off the web, last I
checked - let me know if you'd like me to send you an archived copy)

Caslon Analytics.  Privacy Guide.  (Overview of Asia)
<http://www.caslon.com.au/privacyguide6.htm#landscapes>. Retrieved October
15, 2004.

A more complete account of privacy rights and law in the PRC is available at
<http://www.privacyinternational.org/survey/phr2003/countries/china.htm>]

McDougall, Bonnie S. 2001. Briefing paper: concepts of privacy in English.
<http://www.arts.ed.ac.uk/asianstudies/privacyproject/briefing.html>

McDougall, Bonnie S. and Anders Hansson (eds.) 2002. Chinese Concepts of
Privacy. Leiden: Brill.

Ramasoota, Pirongrong.  2001.  Privacy: A Philosophical sketch and a Search
for a Thai Perception.  MANUSYA: Journal of Humanities 4 (2: September),
89-107.

Tang, Raymond. 2002. Approaches to Privacy ~ The Hong Kong Experience.
<http://www.pco.org.hk/english/infocentre/speech_20020222.html>

White & Case LLP. 2002. Global Privacy Law: a Survey of 15 Major
Jurisdictions] . [Includes China]. Available online from:
<http://www.whitecase.com/pr_wc_privacy_law_survey.html>

==
I hope this is helpful.  Good luck!

Charles Ess

Distinguished Research Professor, Interdisciplinary Studies
Drury University
900 N. Benton Ave.              Voice: 417-873-7230
Springfield, MO  65802  USA       FAX: 417-873-7435
Home page:  http://www.drury.edu/ess/ess.html
Co-chair, CATaC: http://www.it.murdoch.edu.au/catac/

Professor II, Globalization and Applied Ethics Programmes
Norwegian University of Science and Technology
NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
http://www.anvendtetikk.ntnu.no/pres/bridgingcultures.php

Exemplary persons seek harmony, not sameness. -- Analects 13.23