Some of the Best

P3P: Pretty Poor Privacy? An ongoing discussion.

The new W3C protocol "Platform for Privacy Preferences" is seen by some as solution to our online privacy problems. A reading of the documentation shows that it is probably not what people assume it is, and while it may serve to empower users who are sending their personal data to Web sites, it will also make it easier for sites to demand data from users. Here's the quiz: how is P3P like Mr. Potato[e] Head? This article answers that question. Also, I've authored an FAQ on P3P, for those who prefer their info in a more Socratic format.

• The Center for Democracy and Technology has written a rebuttal to this and other criticisms of P3P.
• I have written a reply to their rebuttal in which I talk about information, value, and what it means to have a choice.

Why Librarians Should Rule the Net (April 10, 1997, Fort Worth, Texas)

This is a talk I gave at the Texas Library Association meeting. I have added the text of my talk to the slides so this is a kind of do-it-yourself slide show. (The bluebonnets were in bloom along the side of the highway, and Texas hospitality is the best! Someday I must see more than the DFW airport and the inside of a hotel.) By the way, the short answer to the question posed by the title is: because we know what we are doing.
For those of you who want something you can print, I've added a table with the same content as the PowerPoint presentation in a concise almost-one-page format.

Privacy and Free Speech (July, 1998)

This is the brief talk that I gave at the AALL meeting in Anaheim on July 13, 1998. The "Primer," below, was the handout for the talk and gives much more detail about how the Internet affects privacy.This talk explains why you should care.
-- Thanks once again to Alicia Ocaso of Montevideo, this piece is now available in Spanish.

A Primer on Internet Privacy (July, 1998)

I was on a panel at the American Association of Law Libraries meeting in Anaheim on July 13. The panel was on the topic of privacy and had representatives from Lexis/Nexis, the Direct Marketing Association, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, and me. We were asked to debate the issue of self-regulation of privacy on the Internet. This piece, which was issued as a handout, explains the various ways that the Internet can compromise your privacy, from cookies and clickstream to the proposed Privacy Protocol. In the end, computers do not invade our privacy, people do. Privacy is not a technology, it's a choice we have to make.

"How Hard Can It Be?" in: Wired Women: Gender and New Realities in Cyberspace. Seattle, Seal Press, 1996. pp. 42-55.

This piece looks at the image of computing as a world of heroic men. The title comes from an exchange in the film Thelma and Louise:

Louise: ... And steal Darryl's fishin' stuff.
Thelma: Louise, I don't know how to fish.
Louise: Well neither do I, Thelma, but Darryl does it - how hard can it be?

Access: Not Just Wires (October, 1994)

In October of 1994, I gave a talk at the annual meeting of the Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility on the issue of access to the "information highway." This talk has travelled around the Net during these years, visiting places I've never even been. I think this file is having more fun than I am.
This talk is now available in Spanish-- thanks to Alicia Ocaso -- and in Italian, -- grazie a Norberto Patrignani. If you can help with other translations, I'd very much appreciate it.

Home Alone (December, 1996)

This is a piece I wrote in response to an amazing Packard Bell computer ad (which you can view in MOV format, or in AVI format). In the ad, Packard Bell presents a frightening view of the world and then asks: "Wouldn't you rather be at home?" This ad is clearly in imitation of the famous Apple Computer ad that promised liberation from 1984-type conformism ... only this time, you save yourself and leave the others behind.

Growing Our Information Future (Ethics of the Internet Seminar, Berkeley, CA, Nov., 1995)

Is it enough to resolve the technological issues of access to the Information Highway, or do we have moral and ethical questions that also have to be addressed? Well, rather than keep you guessing, let me take you to the year 2015 for a look at one possible future...

Cyber-Activist's Top Ten List (DEFCON ][, August 1994, Las Vegas)

There's nothing more fun than spending three days in the virtual reality of Las Vegas. It's 114 degrees outside, but who goes outside anyway?

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