Re: Privacy: Law, Custom, and Technology

[Bill Frantz <frantz@netcom.com>]

At 12:53 AM -0700 7/23/97, Tim May wrote:
>(I am not trying to be rude to Bill, just making the point forcefully that
>I don't particularly care that these four choices are acceptable to "some
>people.")

It is this kind of attitude I wish to encourage thru custom, certainly not law.

>
>I of course remember _lots_ of things about people, I share those memories
>on occasion (without requesting permission), I mention names, and I
>certainly don't recall every giving one of the subjects of my memories a
>cut of the action.
>
>In a free society, it is not possible or acceptable to control what others
>remember or gossip about. Or even sell commercially.
>
>"Custom" only applies to those who adopt the custom--the "law" is for
>everyone else. The question is: do we have a law demanding that people not
>remember certain things, or not gossip about what they've observed? I think
>even a totalitarian society will have well-known problems enforcing such
>laws.

When I was in Malasia, I saw signs in many stores which said in effect, In
accordance with Islamic law, we offer fair prices.  My experience with
prices in stores with these signs is that they were lower than in some of
the other stores.

A similar approach could evolve for network sites.  A sign saying that we
follow the US Chamber of Commerce's code on fair information practices
could easily evolve.  My questions are, what should that code contain?
And, how many different codes do we need?


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