Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!van-bc!cynic!curt From: curt@cynic.wimsey.bc.ca (Curt Sampson) Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk Subject: Re: Lotus Market Place Message-ID: <9oX3s5w163w@cynic.wimsey.bc.ca> Date: 23 Nov 90 08:06:19 GMT References: Organization: Mad Artists' Technological Hangout, Vancouver, B.C. Lines: 44 jmc@Gang-of-Four.stanford.edu (John McCarthy) writes: > It seems to me that there is a certain amount of superstition in > the belief that very many people are likely to be harmed by > databases with information about their commercial transactions. > ... > I think the Swedish and Norwegian laws on the subject have been > harmful and are subject to further abuse, especially if adopted here. Well, I do see the potential for some nasty abuses, though I think that people may be overreacting a little bit. Unfortunately, what it all comes down to is that Pandora's box has been opened, and it's never going to be shut again. I think a good parallel might be drawn from cypher technology. Say someone writes a program to encypher documents, and falls into popular use. If attempts are made to keep the encypherment algorithm secret, it will remain secret, for a while. However, eventually someone is going to figure out the encypherment algorithm. At this point it becomes much better to reveal the algorithm to all. This will enable people to determine what the weakness in the algorithm are and adjust their behaviour accordingly. A similar case exists with security holes in computer operating systems. It's better to let *everyone* know about it so that it can be plugged, rather than letting only a few have that knowledge and putting them in a privleged position. My suggestion would be to let anybody keep any information they want to keep on anyone. Combine this with laws that consider keeping incorrect information on someone as libel and laws that require anybody keeping such information to reveal *all* that person's information to the person her/himself and I think the potential for abuse is kept reasonably low. Information is power. Restricting it to only a few only concentrates power. cjs curt@cynic.UUCP | "The unconscious self is the real genius. curt@cynic.wimsey.bc.ca | Your breathing goes wrong the minute your {uunet|ubc-cs}!van-bc!cynic!curt | conscious self meddles with it." --GBS