The Information Age & Privacy

Privacy At WorkPrivacy & the Internet

Surveillance

Networks & Communications

Part 4

The Information Age

Some say the information age is a double-edged Some say the information age is a double-edged sword when it comes to civil liberties.sword when it comes to civil liberties.

On the one hand - the Internet and company networks are a true "marketplace of ideas,“ in which information is shared, organised, debated; unrestricted by geographic distances or national borders.

On the other hand - the same network & communication technology that promotes values of free speech and access to information also poses a serious threat to another fundamental constitutional value -- the right to privacy.

The Information Age

When you post a letter, you probably expect it to arrive at it’s destination unopened and unread by anyone other than the recipient. When you make a phone call, you probably assume that your conversation is unmonitored by wiretaps.

How do you feel about the Government monitoring your web browsing and e-mails?

What about data-gathering by market research companies. How much information should they be allowed to collect on you? Is this data protected?

Do you expect an e-mail message to be private?

Let us first consider the e-mail controversyLet us first consider the e-mail controversy

E-mail at Work

September 2000September 2000“A source close to Orange claims the sackings at mobile phoneoperator Orange were over the distribution of images of 'severedbody parts‘.A spokeswoman for Orange said that, under the company's terms and conditions, the distribution of messages or attachments that are "offensive, harassing, obscene, racist, sexist, threatening or libellous" is strictly prohibited.”http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2081204,00.html.

December 2000December 2000“Reports suggest around 40 employees have been suspended after a smutty Bart Simpson image was accidentally emailed to a company director. A spokesman for Royal Sun Alliance claims the firm has a "very strict policy" on Internet and email use.”

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/2000/50/ns-19787.html.

E-mail at Work

“A Pennsylvania company assured its employees that email would not be intercepted or used against employees as grounds for termination or reprimand. Despite this assurance, the company later reviewed emails from an employee to a supervisor and used it as the basis for termination. That was perfectly legal, according to a federal court in Pennsylvania.

According to the court, the company's interest in preventing inappropriate comments or illegal activity over its email system outweighed any privacy interest the employee may have.”

Smyth v. Pillsbury, 914 F. Supp. 97 (E. D. Pa. 1996.).

http://cobrands.smallbiz.findlaw.com/bizop/nolo/ency/286D456E-73C7-414A-B174343E0225C4C8.html.

Is there an automatic legal right to privacy for personal mail delivered to a work address? - NO

Unlike items of personal property that may keep at work, electronic messages you send or receive at work are NOT legally considered to be your personal property.

An employer who owns the server or personal computer on which your email is stored is entitled to look at or copy it.

Many employees reserve the right to check e-mail as a precaution against fraud, workplace harassment or breaches of confidence by employees.

E-mails at Work- Your Rights

Employee Monitoring

There are many companies that make employee-monitoring software e.g Websense, Baltimore Technologies, SurfControl,

Elron Software, Symantec.

Employee monitoring usually covers web browsing

Employee monitoring can also be used for monitoring employees' e-mail. This can be done as part of a larger e-mail system that

checks all incoming mail for viruses or spam mail.

The Employer's Perspective

There's more to employer monitoring of email than voyeurism. Employers have several concerns about employee email.

Employers prefer to pay employees for doing work, not sending personal messages.

Employers want to make sure that their office computing is being used properly - not being used to support employees who overload the system's communication bandwidth.

Employers may be worried that email will be used within the workplace to harass or offend other employees.

Employers can monitor for email with offensive language.

Monitoring can alert the employer to who is sending lots of email or viewing inappropriate web pages.

Employer versus Employee

Employer Employer

“That is not the way things work with the telephone, with dressings rooms, and so forth. You can't record a telephone conversation that's personal, even if I am having a conversation on a telephone that belongs to

the you. "

“The computer equipment belongs to me.

It should not be used for personal purposes“

I own the computer and also what's in it. This entitles me to search hard drives and other corporate computer

records for any reason

EmployeeEmployee

Employer Employer “Actually, in some countries and states, I am at liberty to monitor your telephone calls."

Employer versus Employee

But what happens if I get a boss who has got it in for me but can't fault me for any of my work. So he starts looking at all the emails I have sent, and all the websites I've visited, copies of which are on the back-up server even though I have deleted them.

"What's this?" he says. "Ordering your holiday, replying to emails from friends - and all in MY time."

Employee Employee

We monitor the workplace in order to catch slackers, deter inappropriate Web surfing, or perhaps to ferret out criminal behaviour.We also must ensure that company secrets are not given away.

Employer Employer

Disadvantage for Employer

The monitoring of a workplace may be creating a danger for employers.

The workplace information an employer collects through monitoring may be potential evidence that could be used against them in future litigation.

Logs and reports produced by employee monitoring in government offices may be considered public records and accessible under Freedom of Information Act.

“When government lawyers sued Microsoft over antitrust issues, some of the most incendiary evidence came from archived emails that documented statements by Microsoft executives about its strategy against competitors such as Netscape.”http://cobrands.smallbiz.findlaw.com/bizop/nolo/ency/286D456E-73C7-414A-B174343E0225C4C8.html.

Businesses have collected information for many, many years. A lot of that information has been moved onto computers and into databases.

Consider supermarket loyalty cards. They are used as a tool through which your habits are monitored. These cards build up pictures of what people like spending your money on….

Do you prefer organic food? Which wines do you prefer?

Example - one particular supermarket that monitored customer habits, realised that placing beer and lager next to nappies, increased sales, since fathers sent to buy nappies bought beer as well.

What can be can be hidden these days?

Data Gathering - Market Research

Data Gathering - Market Research

Data Gathering is valuable in e-commerce.Data Gathering is valuable in e-commerce.

The technology to gather information about individuals is becoming more and more sophisticated.

The more information that companies gather about individuals, the more they can target their goods and services towards those customers. Information is valuable.

Internet service providers can keep track of the sites you visit and the software you download.

Websites use "cookies" - bits of data that can be stored on a user’s PCs - to keep a track of visitors.

Software now exists that plants itself on your computer and sends information to a home Internet site about your net activities, such as the advertisements you click on. This is called spyware.

Data Protection Act

The Data Protection Act 1998 came into force on 1 March 2000. It sets out rules for processing personal information. It applies to paper records as well as those held on computers.

The Data Protection Act stipulates – an individual - must give consent for organisations to use their personal data. - has the right to opt out of direct marketing - must be informed about who is using their data and for what purposes.

The UK has a Data Protection Commissioner who helps individuals – - enforce their right to examine records held about them for a moderate fee. - requires companies handling personal data to register

There is a search facility where you can examine the information registered by companies that is about you.

Information & The Internet

The Internet has advantages & disadvantagesThe Internet has advantages & disadvantages

Email and the Web enabled new and less restricted forms of

communication and publishing.

The traditional opinion makers can be side-stepped. E.g. newspapers

Even dictatorships struggle to control the flow of

information across their borders.

1. It facilitates freedom of expression and increases the flow of ideas and information. This can make it more difficult for governments to control the public agenda.

2. This open,unregulated nature of cyberspace offers opportunities not just to ordinary folks but also to the criminal community - money-launderers, tax dodgers, pornographers, paedophiles, hackers, virus-writers, terrorists.

The Internet & Censorship

Some countries impose Internet censorship.

Some Internet sites are offensive to others, e.g. pro-Nazi sites.

If the Internet must be regulated, who should decide what content is allowed?

“In China, where there are 20m users, the authorities have passed a series of laws to restrict access and filter content. Those caught breaking these laws could face the death penalty.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/

0,7369,490271,00.html.

“The US-based "ethical?" hacking group,Cult of the Dead Cow has alarmed law enforcement agencies with plans for a browser that could make it impossible to control the material people have access to on the world wide web.”

“They say the new technology will allow people living under oppressive regimes to circumvent censorship to access banned material.”

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Print/0,3858,4185949,00.html.

Internet & Privacy

Do you expect privacy when

communicating by e-mail on

the Internet?

Are communications to and from Usenet newsgroups, chat rooms and the web protected from unwanted intrusion?

Can the police seize your entire computer system if they suspect you of transmitting illegal material? Do they need a warrant? Are they allowed to monitor and intercept your e-mail during transmission?

What is your service provider reveals your private messages to the world? Do you have any recourse?

The personal information we send into cyberspace in the form of e-mail messages and postings is easily tracked and stored by others -- including ISP’s, web sites and the government.

An e-mail message

addressed to one individual can be

immediately forwarded to thousands.

You cannot stop this from

happening.

Internet & Government Surveillance

Big brother invests £25m to monitor your Net activities. May 2000Big brother invests £25m to monitor your Net activities. May 2000

MI5 has the power to monitor all telephone communications via the Echelon global surveillance network.

A Home Office source quoted in the Times says, "Hardly anyone was using the Internet or mobiles 15 years ago. Now criminals can communicate with each other by a huge array of devices and can encrypt their messages, putting them beyond the reach of conventional eavesdropping.“

A new centre for monitoring email and Internet communications is to be built The new security centre, will be built within MI5's London headquarters. They will be given the power to monitor email communications and Web surfing under the new Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Bill.

http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/2000/17/ns-15104.html.

How do you feel about this? Do you think the loss of some personal privacy is justified, if security agencies have increased powers to catch criminal?

RIP Act - Black Box Interception

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIP) Act sets out the government's plans for how the security services can monitor and access communication over the internet. It passed into law on October 24, 2000.

Black Box InterceptionBlack Box Interception: Security services, such as MI5, will be able to monitor people's Internet habits. This data does not include the content of the website or email. It records the addresses of the websites and chatrooms they visit and the addresses of emails they send and receive. If security services suspect criminal activity, they request a government warrant to intercept and decode Internet content.

Some (ISPs) will be asked to use "black boxes", a piece of computer technology enabling the security services to monitor where we surf and to whom we send emails.

Reverse Burden of ProofReverse Burden of Proof: what happens if intercepted communications are encrypted (encoded and made secret)?

The RIP act will force the individual to surrender the keys (pin numbers which allow users to decipher encoded data), on pain of jail sentences of up to two years.

The government says keys will only be required in some cases and the security services will destroy the keys as soon as they are finished with.

Human rights campaigners argue the act reverses the burden of proof in UK law.

If an individual cannot comply because they have lost or forgotten the key then they have to prove that to the satisfaction of a court. The burden of proof is shifted from the prosecution to the defence.

How do you prove that you have forgotten something?

RIP Act – Reverse Burden of Proof

The Information Age & Privacy

The End