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Workshop on privacy in computer supported cooperative work

At least one person who understands crypto should go -- the other 
participants may not know what our technology makes possible.

Forwarded-by: Stanton McCandlish <[email protected]>
Forwarded-by: Phil Agre <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, 24 Jun 1994 19:02:39 PDT
From: Lucy Suchman <[email protected]>

                >>> Workshop Announcement <<<

     CRITICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN THE CREATION AND CONTROL OF
            PERSONAL/COLLECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS SPACES

             to be held in conjunction with the

   ACM 1994 Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work
                         (CSCW'94)

                Chapel Hill, North Carolina
                 Saturday, October 22, 1994

 sponsored by IFIP WG9.1 (Computers and Work) (pending approval)

                          organized by

                         Andrew Clement
                 Faculty of Information Studies
                      University of Toronto

                          Lucy Suchman
                    Systems and Practices Lab
                           Xerox PARC

                           Ina Wagner
                        Centre for CSCW
                 Technical University of Vienna


Themes and Goals:

The development of CSCW applications generally implies new ways of
recording and transmitting detailed information about individual users'
behaviour.  Frequently,this is associated with new forms of interpersonal
access.  This is the case for those working in settings as diverse as team
based manufacturing environments and the "media spaces" of corporate
research labs.  Even routine use of email poses still unresolved questions
about who has access to messages and under what conditions. Such new
communications capabilities pose the possibility of unwelcome intrusion and
exposure.  More generally, they can undermine the ability of individuals
and groups to negotiate control of information about themselves.  Personal
privacy may be threatened and the potential for CSCW technologies to support
collaboration impaired.

This workshop builds upon the experiences with the privacy workshop and
panel sessions held at CSCW'92 (see reports in SIGCHI Bulletin, October
1993, and especially, SIGOIS Bulletin, August 1993).   Whereas the former
workshop focused on identifying privacy issues, this one will emphasise
remedial responses.  In particular, it will explore theoretical and
practical considerations in developing various forms of communications
spaces under the control of the individuals and groups concerned.

The specific goals of this one day workshop are:
   - to further develop a network of researchers and practitioners who have
     an ongoing interest in the privacy and related implications of
     CSCW technologies
   - to explore the theoretical and practical aspects of defining
     manageable personal and group information spaces
     within CSCW applications
   - to consider possibilities for diverse forms of participation (and non-
     participation) in the use of communications media and technologically
     mediated workspaces
   - to elaborate a general framework to guide CSCW developers and
     implementors in creating applications that are sensitive to
     personal/collectiveinformation control concerns.

Planned Activities:

In the morning session, participants will explore in detail several
realistic scenarios involving privacy/accessibility issues.  These will
reflect a range of common/plausible situations by drawing upon prior
research and participants' written submissions. Discussions of each
scenario will focus on identifying the sources of concern, their basis in
technologies and/or social relations, and the ways in which potential
privacy violations may be avoided or diminished.  Design options
will be highlighted.

The afternoon session will identify and elaborate the general principles
that underlie the scenarios analysed earlier.  These will cover
recommendations and appropriate rationales that can guide the design of
technologies and inform working practices. The main product will be a set
of key ideas to incorporate in a report suitable for publication in
SIGCHI/SIGOIS Bulletins.


Organizer Backgrounds:

Andrew Clement's research has been on the social and organizational
implications of workplace computerization.  A central theme of this work
has been the ways in which users exercise control and are controlled
through computing technology.  He has written several papers on the subject
of electronic workplace surveillance and, as a participant in the Ontario
Telepresence project, is currently researching the privacy aspects of
media spaces.  He organized the privacy workshop at CSCW'92.  He is vice
chair of IFIP WG9.1 (Computers and Work).

Lucy Suchman's research concerns the social relations of computer systems
design and use, including studies of cooperative working practices in
technology-intensive workplaces.  Through her involvement in the CSCW and
Participatory Design communities, she has worked to develop more
use-oriented practices of systems design.  She was Program Chair for the
Second Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work, and is engaged in
ongoing dialogues with the PARC/EuroPARC media space and ubiquitous
computing projects.

Ina Wagner is the Director of the Centre for CSCW at the Technical
University of Vienna.  Her recent research has focused on the political and
cultural aspects of software development practices and on time management
issues in medical teams. She was the principal organizer of the recent
IFIP WG9.1 NetWORKing Conference ("Connecting Workers In and Between
Organizations") and serves as the Working Group's chair.


Participant Selection:

Prospective participants are asked to submit a short position statement
(2-5 pages) describing their background, nature of interest in the workshop
themes (e.g. privacy, CSCW application development, what they consider to
be the primary issues and promising remedial approaches).  As part of this,
prospective participants are also encouraged to submit a brief scenario
description (2-3 pages), suitable for discussion in the workshop.  These
should describe a situation, preferably based on experience, which explores
a privacy concern in connection with the use of CSCW technologies. The
richer and more detailed the better.  Identities of individuals and
organizations should be suitably disguised.  Position statements and
scenarios will be distributed to participants in advance of the session.
Participants, to a maximum of 20, will be selected to promote a stimulating
mix of researchers, developers, implementors and users of CSCW
technologies.

Four copies of the position paper/scenario should be sent by August 15,
1994 to the contact person, Andrew Clement.  Please also email an ASCII
version. Invitations will be sent by August 29, 1994.  Be sure to include
your name, address, telephone number, email address and fax  number in your
submission.

The workshop will start at 8:30AM Saturday morning and last until 5PM.
The workshop fee is $50, which includes continental breakfast, lunch and
refreshment breaks.  The fee is payable at the conference.

Contact:

     Andrew Clement
     Faculty of Information Studies
     University of Toronto
     140 St George Street
     Toronto, Ontario
     Canada M5S 1A1
     [email protected]
     (416) 978-3111 (Office)
     (416) 971-1399 (Fax)