Privacy '08
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It is time for the Presidential candidates and the country to begin a real discussion about the future of privacy in America. This is an important issue for many Americans. According to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft is the #1 concern of American consumers. It is also a non-partisan issue. Leaders in both parties have championed this cause. Privacy is also a universal issue. In the globalized, networked world, individuals around the world confront questions about personal privacy every day. This is true both on social network sites and at military checkpoints in Iraq.
There is real urgency to begin a debate. The country is building new systems of surveillance and identification. Since 9/11, Congress has given the President new powers. Many experts believe we are constructing a national surveillance state. What are the views of the candidates? Would they continue on the current course? Is there a better approach?
The protection of privacy is much like the protection of the environment. It is an ongoing challenge without a simple solution. Just like the industrial economy had a great impact on the environment, the information economy will have an enormous impact on personal privacy. It is not a problem that is simply solved by giving consumers choice and relying on the marketplace. It will require a deep understanding of the challenges we face and the policy options we might pursue. The longer we delay the debate, the more difficult the challenges will become.
We need to begin a national debate on this topic now. We need to discuss both the specific bills that are pending in Congress and what our world will look like in ten or twenty years.
- What can Congress do to ensure meaningful oversight of truly necessary surveillance?
- How can we slow the increase in identity theft and security breaches?
- How can we limit the use of personal identifiers, such as Social Security Numbers, that create so many privacy risks?
Those are the legislative questions that will appear on the Congressional scorecards. Several bills on these topics will be introduced in the next Congress. There are also the long term questions:
- How do we promote innovation and competition in the information economy and still protect privacy? How do we build in privacy protections that are easy to use and do not require complex settings or elaborate policies?
- Do we need to draw some bright lines? For example, should we ever permit the "chipping" of the elderly, prisoners, immigrants, or children?
- Will our systems of identification enable mobility and freedom or will they create a digital caste system? Should there be limits on the use of identification and some space for anonymity?
- How do we rein in the "Homeland Security-Surveillance Industrial" complex? There is very little discussion of the new systems of surveillance that are being constructed for the US government by US firms to spy on US citizens.
- Who will watch the watchers? How do we establish meaningful oversight with government agencies that exercise extraordinary control in great secrecy?
- And how much surveillance should a democratic society accept? At what point does a Constitutional democracy become a police state and how would we know when this has occurred?
The questions are not easily answered. Many thoughtful, well informed people will reach different conclusions. But there should be no real doubt about the need to begin this discussion. We want to hear the ideas of the political leaders who are taking us forward into the Twenty-First century. Do they understand these issues? What do they propose to do?
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