Privacy+&+Anonymity

=Privacy & Anonymity - Elaine Southwell= definition from ITGS guide = privacyis the ability of individuals and groups to dertermine for themselves when, how and to what extent information about themselves is shared with others. At its extreme privacy becomes anonymity, which wich might be called for in some contexts but is dangerous in others. For example, discussion of a delicate subject might require anonymity, or at least privicy. On the other hand, anonymity could also conceal the perpetrators of crinimal, terrorist or computor hacking acts.

Anonymity = the state or quality of being anonymous. Privacy = the state of being private; retirement or seclusion. Many people value their privacy. and tend not to want people to follow or track them. Unless it is in a social website, in which case they have chosen to present their information and the have signed a disclamer saying that thay have done that. But in out day to day to day life out privacy varies. It starts at work where you and any one can search things and is a common mode of communications, basically nothing is privite on your office computer but most people now this. Next is your home where you can do other things with your computer besides just work. But this still isnt the most private place to go on the web, due to the fact that website owners can track your repeat visits much more easily - what time you arrived, how long you stayed, and how often you come back. Often the most anonymous place to surf the web is still with a laptop at coffee shops with free WiFi, or at an Internet cafe.

As governments seek to protect people from terrorists, we must ensure that we don't give up our rights to privacy solely out of fear. As Benjamin Franklin said: //"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."//

Below is an artical on privacy February 9th, 2006 =[|Google Copies Your Hard Drive - Government Smiles in Anticipation]= Consumers Should Not Use New Google Desktop San Francisco Google announced a new "feature" of its Google Desktop software that greatly increases the risk to consumer privacy. If a consumer chooses to use it, the new "Search Across Computers" feature will store copies of the user's Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets and other text- based documents on Google's own servers, to enable searching from any one of the user's computers. EFF urges consumers not to use this feature, because it will make their personal data more vulnerable to subpoenas from the government and possibly private litigants, while providing a convenient one-stop-shop for hackers who've obtained a user's Google password. "Coming on the heels of serious consumer concern about government snooping into Google's search logs, it's shocking that Google expects its users to now trust it with the contents of their personal computers," said EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston. "Unless you configure Google Desktop very carefully, and few people will, Google will have copies of your tax returns, love letters, business records, financial and medical files, and whatever other text-based documents the Desktop software can index. The government could then demand these personal files with only a subpoena rather than the search warrant it would need to seize the same things from your home or business, and in many cases you wouldn't even be notified in time to challenge it. Other litigants--your spouse, your business partners or rivals, whomever--could also try to cut out the middleman (you) and subpoena Google for your files." The privacy problem arises because the Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986, or ECPA, gives only limited privacy protection to emails and other files that are stored with online service providers--much less privacy than the legal protections for the same information when it's on your computer at home. And even that lower level of legal protection could disappear if Google uses your data for marketing purposes. Google says it is not yet scanning the files it copies from your hard drive in order to serve targeted advertising, but it hasn't ruled out the possibility, and Google's current privacy policy appears to allow it. "This Google product highlights a key privacy problem in the digital age," said Cindy Cohn, EFF's Legal Director. "Many Internet innovations involve storing personal files on a service provider's computer, but under outdated laws, consumers who want to use these new technologies have to surrender their privacy rights. If Google wants consumers to trust it to store copies of personal computer files, emails, search histories and chat logs, and still 'not be evil,' it should stand with EFF and demand that Congress update the privacy laws to better reflect life in the wired world." Google can and should design its technologies to avoid these problems in the first place. For example, searching across computers can be accomplished without Google having to keep copies of those computers' contents. Alternatively, Google could encrypt the stored data such that only the user has access. "Google constantly touts its creative brainpower. More privacy-protective technologies are surely not beyond its reach, so long as its engineers make that a design priority," added Bankston. For more on the new version of Google Desktop: [|http://today.reuters.com/business/newsArticle.aspx?type=technology&story...] For more on Google's data collection: [|http://news.com.com/FAQ+When+Google+is+not+your+friend/2100-1025_3-60346...] [|http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/01/21/google_subpoena_ro...] [|http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/0...] [|http://news.com.com/%20Bill+would+force+Web+sites+to+delete+personal+inf...]