Why Privacy Matters ESPECIALLY if You Have ‘Nothing to Hide’

http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Privacy-Matters-Even-if/127461/?sid=cr&utm_source=cr&utm_medium=en

Daniel Solove has written a brilliant piece, URL above,  on why the debate on privacy has to move beyond apologist arguments for the porn-addict, the una-bomber and the evil thoughts that haunt me. His argument device is to show that George Orwell’s “1984″ showed amply the pitfalls of surveillance. And Daniel builds on that by  adding Kafka’s “The Trial” showing the issues authority having too much data and not enough accountability. I think that at least one more piece needs to be added, perhaps more, but let me add the next piece to see if it helps.

To make the issue understandable the polar extremes of the issued  need to be explored  and explained, so the right temperature can be found.

By way of comparison, the debate around abortion is not about abortion, it is about two sides presenting a temperate view and trying to occupy the language of the middle.

So in privacy the extremes might be temperately described as pro-data and pro-individual.

The pro-data side is out there and has good handles for it arguments. The biggest and best Daniel describes well – if you have nothing to hide then you have nothing to fear. Some of the better known rebuttals are also presented in the Solove’s article.

The pro-individual side is harder to capture. Solove does a very good job but I hope to build on it.

The big challenge with privacy is it is amorphous; there is no single piece of it you can grab on to that it can be said that this is the part that must be protected. It must be protected in whole.

So the piece I would like to add, building on Soloves argument, and style, is to add Arthur Millar’s “The Crucible.” The fable of sanctimony and the grievous consequences of hubris in believing that you have the might of the almighty on your side.

Giles Corey is the poster child for privacy. Giles Corey did not have the burden of proof upon him. Giles knew that he could not prove himself in the court of those who believed the almighty was on their side. He chose instead to protect his family and his right not to explain himself, even though he had nothing to hide. I hope we can work out a better answer than “more weight” for the rest of us. If not, I will line up next.

There is an important set of legal concepts that needs to find common language in privacy. The first principal is to articulate the crime. The second is to show the accused has committed the crime in advance of the crime being a criminal act. Absent those two pieces, no explanation from the individual in necessary. In law, it is innocent until proven guilty. There needs to be a positive corollary. It also needs to be  scrunched up in to a sound bite. Help!

WanderId can help save people who really need it

WanderID.com provides an identify service for those who really need it. If you know someone with dementia or other condition which makes it hard to self-identify then WanderId can help. What they provide is a private and confidential ‘help me’ service.

If you find someone who is lost and can’t identify oneself then you can help get them home. Take a photo headshot and provide some contact info, and send it to WanderID. If the person is enrolled then WanderID will send back a comparison photo so you can make sure that it is the same person. Once you confirm, the family or caregiver is notified about where you and are and how to reach you. This has been well received by the first responder community who get access to the service for free, and can use their existing equipment.

This is an amazing service. I think there is a much larger opportunity. First responders are always trying to educate people to add an ICE contact in their phone (In Case of Emergency) which is a really great idea. But how about an creating an identity capsule so that you can be identified when it really matters. If you are running in the woods and collapse you may not have a phone or your wallet. Having an online service that can identify who you are and who to contact would be a really great thing.

I love this service but they need to think bigger.

Txt to face – if you have someone’s picture then you can send them a text msg

Jame Blunt wrote the “You’re Beautiful” lyrics

“She smiled at me on the subway.
She was with another man.
But I won’t lose no sleep on that,
‘Cause I’ve got a plan.”
The plan is to take a picture of her with an iPhone and send her a text message.

I was at Pii2011 this week. Part of the conference was show-and-tell for 10 new startups; all were interesting, some are going to make it, some have impossible hurdles to overcome. Two really caught my attention.

Face.com does face search like you see in iPhoto. The additional capability they bring is that they are social web, so they can search for a face in any picture on the internet. They can search Facebook, flickr, newspapers, your professional photo on linked.in or your company website. Face.com license a platform so anyone can build face search apps. The little hope you had of keeping your life compartmentalized is over – work, annual friend binge weekend, family – all aggregated by a handle you can’t easily change or hide – your face. Now your friends, family, bosses, the gov, and your past stalker-flames can follow you every where. And if any one of those photos includes your name (or a friends name) its an easy path to finding your email address in linkedin or facebook.

I know you are thinking this is limited to to static photos but wait until you hear about the next one.

Bump.com does txt messaging to your car – and then some. You see someone hit a parked car? Then be a good person and txt a msg to plate.state@bump.com. That is the use case they talk about; not the txt “thanks for cutting me off m@&$!? f&$@?!” (read: ‘my friend’). That is not the whole biz plan, however. This is an opt in service! Claim your plate at bump.com. Don’t worry because no one can claim your plate; they have deals in place with many state governments providing a ping service so the information asserted by the claimant can be verified. And it is an offense to falsely claim a plate – kudos for getting state enforcement of anti-spam. They have also tapped in to all the public Internet cameras (and others for sure) and bump.com can photo search to pick out your plates from all these cameras (one billboard camera provides 250,000 plate numbers a day). So they know your route to work and they can send msgs about all the great things the shops have along the way, especially the ones you shop at a lot, like the the beer store (your liquid lunch).

But if bump.com can use public cameras so can face.com, or anyone else for that matter. Hey you, want some pretzels to go with that beer? What about a discount for rehab? That would be a great tweet to pop up during a presentation.

So there there is static web as we know it, but there is dynamic web sensing your face, your car and your phone 24/7. More sensors, too! Content for another blog.

Google did a presentation on user-coping behavior for privacy. It was presented by a Google anthropologist (your company has one too, right?). The presentation talked about many user anecdotes. One woman reported that she had an amulet she wore when she was on the Internet. The amulet was a charm to protect her from Internet harm. Who is selling these Internet amulets? I want one too!