Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!nrl-cmf!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!hplabs!hplabsz!taylor
From: andy@rocky.STANFORD.EDU (Andy Freeman)
Newsgroups: comp.society
Subject: Re: The Control of Information
Message-ID: <1458@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM>
Date: 22 Jan 88 19:10:11 GMT
Sender: taylor@hplabsz.HPL.HP.COM
Organization: Stanford University Computer Science Department
Lines: 36
Approved: taylor@hplabs

[We're talking about whether businesses have a right to privacy.  I asked
why the corner gas station had more rights than IBM.]

Jeffrey Bacon writes:

> But it seems to me that the fundamental difference you fail to see is 
> that IBM is a corporation, while the gas station is a proprietorship. 
> Two very different things.

Yes, IBM is a corporation and corporations are legal entities which are
different from other kinds of businesses, but many gas stations are owned
by small corporations whose sole purpose is to own that gas station.  In
any case, I don't think a business's privacy rights depend on its structure.

> Thus, those that manage it may be more inclined to take certain risks 
> with the corporation, since they are far less liable for their actions.

All employees take risks with the business.  That's the owner's problem;
it isn't yours or mine.

As far as keeping the records open to allow others to "keep an eye
on it", what if the owners don't want these "others" to keep an eye on 
their business?  Why does the right-to-know of these "others" depend on 
the structure of the business?  (You agree that if one person owned all 
of the corner gas stations, that business would be entitled to privacy.)

If "they" want to look at a business's records, "they" can make
this a condition of their dealings with it, no matter how it is
structured; lenders, suppliers, and customers do this all of the
time.  What, it would rather do without "their" business than
disclose its records?  (In that case, banks refuse to loan, but
the bank still doesn't get the information.)  What right-to-know
do "they" have then and how does it depend on the structure of
the business?

Andy Freeman