BEST OF TECH TIME
                                   NUMBER 16
                                       
   
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Hackers and Your Right to Privacy

   The Garden Island Newspaper
   Kauai, Hawaii
   
   By: Bill Peay
   bpeay@aloha.net
   
  AUTHOR'S INTRODUCTION:
  
   
   
   This article was written back in 1992, but the importance of your
   electronic rights is just as prominent today as it was back then,
   probably more so. If you find this material hitting a hot button in
   your emotional hyperlink to reality, then jump to the Electronic
   Frontier Foundation and become a participant in the future of
   mankind. You don't have to live in Hawaii to change the world for the
   better, although we wish people like you did...
   
  TECH TIME ARTICLE:
  
   
   
   Remember last week I quoted our State Legislature which introduced a
   bill which became law back in 1990. It went like this: "The
   legislature finds that the time has come to prepare Hawaii to earn its
   place in the lucrative domestic and international high technology
   marketplace. The legislature acknowledges the wisdom of investing in
   ideas that may not bring immediate profits, but will provide long-term
   benefits for the people of Hawaii in the future. A secure place in
   tomorrow's high technology marketplace can only be earned through
   careful planning, personal initiative and daring, and hard work." Now
   check out what our then Governor signed:
   
   "Whereas, the State of Hawaii actively seeks to develop a strong and
   vibrant information industry that will employ the latest developments
   in computer and telecommunications technologies; and whereas, the
   information industry continues to play a prominent role in Hawaii's
   future and is growing in every facet of the local business and
   government communities;...
   
   Now, therefore, I, John Waihee, Governor of the State of Hawaii, do
   hereby proclaim the week of June 28 through July 4, 1992, to be
   'Information Resource Sharing Week' and invite all of the people of
   Hawaii to consider observing this week in ways that will demonstrate
   our resolve to diversify our economy by building a vibrant and dynamic
   information industry."
   
   Well, Governor, I took you up on your request, as did several
   information oriented professionals from the different County
   Governments, State Government, Federal Government, and the private
   sector. We all attended the Hawaii Intergovernment Information
   Processing Council 1992 conference in Waikiki. I'm here to report to
   the good people of Kauai what was discussed, and what it might mean to
   their lives.
   
   The conference itself was very illuminating. There were some formal
   presentations made which I want to discuss with you. A couple of them
   left me a bit worried about our electronic future. While we are
   sitting here on Kauai basking in the excitement of "pay per view"
   cable TV and cellular telephone, the legal process in Washington, DC,
   is determining our fate in tomorrow's brave new electronic world
   before we are even knowledgeable enough to speak for ourselves. You
   see, these people automatically presume that fiber optic cable will
   run to your home, and you will have complete interactive
   communications with whomever you which to reach. In Washington, DC,
   they are beyond the "gee-whiz" phase we have yet to experience. They
   are debating your right to privacy in all your electronic
   interactions, without your permission, and without your vote. Pretty
   scary, huh? Read on.
   
   This is how it went down: Among the many fascinating speeches and
   exhibits, we had two lawyers give completely different presentations.
   One was from the Electronic Frontier Foundation advocating basic human
   rights, like the right to privacy for your computer communications.
   The other one was from a law firm specializing in intellectual
   property rights. The two did not see eye to eye. Let's see what you
   think.
   
   The democratic values and constitutional liberties at stake are high,
   very high. If you knew your boss was listening to your each and every
   telephone conversation at work, would it bother you? Do you see a
   difference between this and someone reading your electronic mail, no
   matter who it is addressed to? There are some good arguments for
   protecting your electronic privacy, both at home and at work.
   
   At the same time, though, there are increasing incidents of computer
   crime occurring every day. Without content monitoring and audit logs,
   it becomes impossible to convict either hackers intruding an
   electronic network, or unethical employees taking a company for a
   ride. To protect us from this shouldn't we give up our privacy?
   
   One point of view is that your every uttering, be it by telephone or
   by computer keyboard, belongs to your company as soon as you utter it.
   As such, it is their property, not yours, and they can do with it as
   they wish. Do you agree with this?
   
   Another school of thought assumes that your life is private unless you
   declare portions of it public, and as such you have rights to privacy
   when you talk with someone, either by phone or by computer, either at
   home or from the office. Do you agree with this?
   
   As we all know, the law states that if you are going to tape record a
   telephone conversation, you must inform the other person you are doing
   so and put that silly beep on the line every half minute or so. Your
   electronic mail, by it's very nature, is recorded on computer disk for
   later review by your addressee. Should you be notified if someone else
   gains access and reads your e-mail the same way a notification is
   required on your voice telephone call? If the boss reads one of these
   e-mail conversations and decides to fire you because of what you said,
   is that OK?
   
   The answer from both sides of the issue is a resounding "I don't know"
   and "it all depends". What does it depend on? Believe it or not -- and
   this is the scary part -- it usually depends on how educated the judge
   is in the law governing electronic wire transfer of information. Most
   are not knowledgeable at all. Some are still having difficulty with
   the concept of sending "property" electronically over a wire, like
   shipping your copyrighted version of Word Perfect to your friend by
   modem.
   
   The idea of firing someone because of something they said in e-mail,
   something which otherwise would not have been monitored if said over
   the telephone, is way out there in the "lack of ability to grasp"
   category. Yet this is real. The cases are mounting. Law is being
   written by court decisions in this "more than gray" area every day.
   
   People like the representatives of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
   attempt to influence legislative and judicial policy to maximize the
   democratic potential of new computer and communications technologies.
   Lawyers attempting to prosecute computer hackers and sophisticated
   drug runners are begging for latitude to monitor and screen electronic
   communications for documented evidence which can be presented for
   conviction in a court of law. Can there be a happy balance?
   
   Whatever that balance will be, it will not be for you to determine.
   When you ultimately get your fiber optic cable to your home, along
   with all the wonderful stuff pulsating down its fibers will come laws
   governing your interaction with that information. Don't be surprised
   if your "gee-whiz" is followed immediately with "oh-my-gosh" as you
   realize how many of your basic freedoms have been compromised in
   bringing this technology to you.
   
   Now for the final zing: From the beginning of this article you can
   clearly see that our State legislature and administration are strongly
   behind developing these new technologies here in Hawaii. That means
   precedent for telecommunication and information law will be set right
   here among our beautiful Islands. Once we get over the fact that this
   technology is indeed on its way here, we can begin to formulate, in
   our common consciousness, just how we as human beings should be
   treated regarding the information we generate and the information we
   observe.
   
   The law we develop here over the next few years will reach beyond our
   shores and will splash up on the coasts of most industrialized
   countries of the world like a tidal wave. I only hope that the
   decisions we make will be sociologically mature with enough "Big
   Brother" influence to stifle high tech crime, but with enough wisdom
   to protect individuality and individual creativity.
   
   I said earlier that whatever the balance will be, it will not be for
   you to determine. I was wrong. It is your duty to stress the
   electro-social fabric of our new age and demand realistic solutions to
   what appears now to be a fantasy environment.
   
   By living in this State with such a positive thrust toward high
   technology diversification, you are automatically participating in
   this grand experiment. Folks, this is where it is all happening. You
   are what it is all about. We, the 50th State, are in a position way
   out here in the middle of the ocean to establish policy which the
   other 49 will be forced to live by because we will be doing it first.
   Don't take that responsibility lightly.
   
   ARTICLE COPYRIGHT 1995 - BILL PEAY
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