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COMPRIV.TXT
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1994-07-17
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COMPUTER PRIVACY VS. FIRST AND FOURTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS
(By Michael S. Borella)
<Mike Borella received a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and
Technical Communication from Clarkson University (1991). He is
currently a graduate student and teaching assistant in Computer
Science at U. Cal. at Davis. This paper is the result of an
independent study sponsored by Susan Ross, an assistant professor in
Technical Communication at Clarkson. e-mail
borella@toadflax.eecs.ucdavis or sross@clutx.clarkson.edu>
I: What is Cyberspace?
"Cyberspace. A consensual hallucination experienced daily
by billions of legitimate operators, in every nation... A
graphical representation of data abstracted from the banks
of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable
complexity. Lines of light ranged in the nonspace of the
mind, clusters and constellations of data. Like city lights,
receding..."
- William Gibson, Neuromancer
Even after reading William Gibson's cyberpunk novels, one's
conceptualization of cyberspace, the electronic world of computers and
computer networks, can be insubstantial. Gibson describes cyberspace as
a world of simulated stimulation that a computer feeds to a "jockey"
(computer operator) via a "cyberspace deck" (human-computer interface).
Explorers in Gibson's cyberspace often have difficulty telling what is
real and what is not. Frequently, in our world, the novice computer
user has similar problems understanding how to use the potential wealth
of information at their finger tips. In Gibson's uncharted future,
people access computers by merging their thoughts with a database.
Today we can "enter" cyberspace through keyboard and modem. But what
actually is cyberspace? Is it real? What does it look like? What are
some of the personal and legal issues emerging from this vastly
uncharted new frontier? This paper will answer those questions and more
as we explore cyberspace, meet its frequenters, and discuss its
increasing role in the life of every human being, not just those who
actually use a computer.
Before we embark on our journey through the legal battles and
rights issues regarding cyberspace, we need a working knowledge of what
it is and how computer operators use it.
Envision a roadmap. Cities dot the otherwise sparse landscape
and roads branch out in all directions, connecting every city. This
network leaves no city unserviced. Although not every city is connected
to every other, it is possible to reach any one city from any other.
Like every other mass transit system, certain areas are more travelled
than others. Some cities are larger than others and some stretches of
road are more prone to traffic. The size and complexity of this roadmap
defies the imagination - it encircles the world.
But the cities are not actually cities. They are computers or
groups of computers. The roads are telephone lines or fiber-optic
cable. The system surrounds the globe in an electronic web of data.
The travellers on these 'virtual' roads are packets of information which
are sent from one city to another, perhaps via many. The roadmap is a
worldwide computer "network." Each city is a depot or terminal for the
packets, and is usually referred to as a "node." In reality they are
mainframes owned by universities, companies, or groups of computer
users. There are several worldwide computer networks currently in
existence.
Every individual who has an account on any mainframe in the
world has their own unique electronic address. It is not unlike a
mailbox, except that it can only receive mail of the electronic kind.
Electronic addresses are similar to postal addresses in that they
contain:
--a name, or user identification which corresponds to the
individual computer user who owns the particular address.
--a local machine name, which is the specific mainframe that the
userid is on. Local names are only used in the node consists of
more than one mainframe. This is not unlike a street address.
--a node name, which corresponds to the physical location of the
node that the userid belongs to. This is not unlike a city
address and/or zip code.
This is all a network needs to know before it can send
information from one mailbox to another. Just like postal mail, if the
user doesn't address mail correctly, the network will return it. In the
case of e-mail (electronic mail) a simple misspelling will cause the
network to return the mail, or send it to an improper destination. Each
of the several worldwide networks has its own unique but similar method
for addressing e-mail. Corresponding via electronic mail has been
available to some academicians for over 20 years, but today it is
possible for anybody with a computer and a modem to have their own
mailbox. For the sake of convenience, many useful physical objects have
been abstracted into cyberspace. Computerized filing systems
(databases), bulletin boards, and electronically published digests and
magazines proliferate in the virtual world of networks. Many of these
electronic items are being treated differently than their "real"
counterparts. Often, due to the convenience of having millions of
pieces of data available in seconds, individual privacy rights are
violated. This is leading to debate and litigation concerning the use
of various aspects of cyberspace. The next sections cover the
situations, people, and legislation of this untamed and largely
undefined frontier.
II: Databases
A database is a collection facts, figures, numbers, and words
that are sorted in a particular order and/or indexed. They are stored on
a computer so that retrieval is quick and simple. Often, databases are
used by the government, corporations, and private businesses to keep
track of the names, address, phone numbers, and other relevant data
about their clients, subscribers, members, etc. For example, most
public libraries have databases containing information of every person
who has a card at that library. Besides the name, address, and phone
number of the card holder, the library's database would also contain
information regarding what books the holder is currently borrowing,
whether they are overdue or not, and when each person's library card
expires.
Similarly, banks have databases containing information regarding
the persons they transact with. Again, name, address and phone number
is essential, but the bank would also be interested in social security
number, credit rating, assets, mortgage information, and so on. By
organizing this data on a computer, the bank increases its efficiency.
It is able to serve more customers in less time, and provide monetary
transactions within seconds. Anyone who has used a bank card at an
automated teller can attest to this.
But all databases are not used for such beneficial purposes. As
we will see in the next section, even the information stored in "benign"
databases can be used to violate privacy rights.
In 1967, J. Edgar Hoover, then head of the FBI, created the
National Crime Information Center (NCIC). This organization's purpose
is to use a computerized database containing the criminal record of
every United States citizen to increase the efficiency of all levels of
law enforcement by facilitating quick exchange of information. The
NCIC's federal databanks interface with over 64,000 state and local
governments' computer networks, and even with some criminal databases of
foreign countries. This widespread and far-reaching power is used by
everyone from top FBI investigators to county and municipal patrol
officers. For example, if a police officer pu