Chapter 6 Review Questions



1. What are the four categories in Daniel Solove’s taxonomy of privacy? Come up with your own examples of activities conducted by government agencies falling into each of these categories.

Information collection refers to activities that gather personal information." An example of information collection by a government agency would be educational records held by a public university.
Information processing refers to activities that store, manipulate, and use personal data that has been collected." An example of information processing would be making a prediction about the number of graduates who are going to fall behind in repaying their federal student loans.
Information dissemination refers to activities that spread personal information." An example of information dissemination is when a state government releases a list of felons who are ineligible to vote.
Invasion refers to activities that intrude upon a person's daily life." An example of a government activity in this category is requiring those who wish to purchase a gun to have a criminal background check and to register their gun.

2. How does the Employee Polygraph Protection Act help job applicants and company employees maintain their privacy? What is the most significant loophole in the Employee Polygraph Protection Act?

The Employee Polygraph Protection Act helps jobs applicants and company employees maintain their privacy by making it illegal for companies to require polygraph tests as a condition of employment (except for a few types of job). The EPPA also makes it illegal for companies to give polygraph tests to current employees, with a few exceptions. The most significant loophole of the Employee Polygraph Protection Act is that it does not apply to federal, state, or local government agencies.

3. What is the purpose of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act?

The purpose of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act is to reduce the amount of personal information gathered from children using the Internet.

4. What are the two principal purposes of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act?

The two principal purposes of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act are:
(1) To prevent health insurance companies and health plan administrators from using genetic information when making decisions about “coverage, rates, or preexisting conditions;”
(2) To prohibit most employers from taking genetic information into account when making decisions related to the terms of employment (e.g., hiring, firing, and promotions);

5. Give two examples of the Census Bureau illegally revealing census data to other federal agencies.

During World War I, the Census Bureau provided the names and addresses of young men to the military, which was searching for draft resistors. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Census Bureau provided the Justice Department with information about the general location of Japanese-Americans. The Army used this information to round up Japanese-Americans and send them to internment camps.

6. Name two notable successes claimed by the National Crime Information Center.

o   The National Crime Information Center helped the FBI identify James Earl Ray as the assassin of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
o   The NCIC helped the FBI capture Timothy McVeigh, who was later convicted of the bombing of the Federal Building in Oklahoma City.

7. What is the purpose of the OneDOJ database? What are its weaknesses, according to the critics of this database?

The purpose of the OneDOJ database is to give state and local police officers accessto information generated by five federal law enforcement agencies. Since the database contains incident reports, interrogation summaries, and other such information, there is information about people who have never been arrested or charged with a crime. Critics say local police should not have access to this kind of information, which may include unsubstantiated and erroneous reports that will never be corrected or removed.

8. Which country leads the world in the deployment of closed-circuit television cameras?

Great Britain leads the world in the deployment of closed-circuit television cameras.

9. Provide an example of overt surveillance by a government agency in the United States.

An example of overt surveillance by a government agency in the United States is the use of closed-circuit television cameras to provide security in public places.

10. Provide two examples of covert surveillance by the U.S. government.

Two examples of covert surveillance by the U.S. government are wiretapping and the use of hidden microphones (bugs).

11. What right is guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution?

The Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures of their property by law enforcement authorities.


12. Why was the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Nardone v. United States so important?

The U.S. Supreme Court decision in Nardone v. United States established that evidence collected from warrantless wiretaps is inadmissible in court.

13. What was the key ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Weiss v. United States?

In Weiss v. United States, the Supreme Court ruled that the the ban on the admissibility of evidence collected from warrantless wiretaps included intrastate as well as interstate telephone calls.

14. How did the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in the case of Katz v. United States change the concept of privacy?

In Charles Katz v. United States, the U.S. Supreme Court broadened the concept of privacy by affirming that citizens should be protected from all electronic surveillance conducted without warrants, including bugs.

15. How did Operation Shamrock begin? What abuses arose from the continuation of Operation Shamrock?

Operation Shamrock began during World War II, when the U.S. government decided it needed to monitor all telegram traffic entering and leaving the United States, presumably as a way of combating espionage. Eventually the Johnson and Nixon administrations used this surveillance infrastructure to monitor the activities of American citizens opposed to the Vietnam War, including the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., The Reverend Ralph Abernathy, Black Panther Leader Eldrige Cleaver, pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, folk singer Joan Baez, and actress Jane Fonda.

16. What was the purpose of the Carnivore system?

The purpose of the Carnivore system was to enable the FBI to monitor Internet traffic, including email messages.

17. Why did the National Security Agency begin its secret wiretapping program?

The National Security Agency began its secret wiretapping program after 9/11 in the hope that it could gather information that could prove valuable in preventing further terrorist attacks.

18. Why did the TALON database spark controversy?

The TALON database was supposed to store reports about suspicious activities or terrorist threats near military bases. Controversy ensued when it was revealed that the database was also being used to store reports about anti-war protests and emails from university students planning protests against on-campus military recruiting.

19. What is a pen register?

A pen register is a surveillance device attached to a suspect's phone line that displays the number being dialed.

20. What is a trap-and-trace device?

A trap-and-trace device is a surveillance device attached to a suspect's phone line that displays the phone numbers of people calling the suspect.

21. What is a roving wiretap?

A roving wiretap is a wiretap that moves from phone to phone. Roving wiretaps are authorized by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act when a suspect attempts to avoid surveillance by using many different phones.

22. What are the implications of the Stored Communication Act for all those who let an Internet service provider handle their email?

The Stored Communications Act allows police to read emails more than 180 days old stored by an Internet Service Provider, without a search warrant. This is an important issue because most people allow their email provider to store their email messages.

23. What are the three most controversial provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act?

The three most controversial provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act are
o   Allowing the use of roving wiretaps;
o   Permitting the surveillance of “lone wolf” suspects not linked to terrorist groups;
o   Allowing the FBI to seize business, medical, educational, and library records without showing probable cause.

24. Why has the expansion in the use of National Security Letters raised privacy concerns?

The expansion in the use of National Security Letters has raised privacy concerns for a variety of reasons. The FBI can issue these letters without showing probable cause, and it has been issuing about 50,000 National Security Letters every year. Typically a gag order is associated with a National Security Letter. The gag order prevents the recipient of the letter (such as a library or educational institution) from disclosing receipt of the letter.


25. Briefly summarize in your own words the five tenets of the Code of Fair Information Practices.

The Code of Fair Information Practices has these five tenets:
·         There cannot be any secret databases;
·         People have the right to know what information about them is stored and how it is being used;
·         People should be able to prevent information collected for one purpose to be used for another purpose;
·         People have the right to correct errors in the information about them;
·         Organizations maintaining databases should make sure the data are reliable and secure.

26. Robert Bellair has said, “The Privacy Act, it turns out, is no protection at all. You can drive a truck through the Privacy Act”. Explain why Bellair and other privacy advocates feel the Privacy Act of 1974 is a weak piece of legislation.

The Privacy Act is criticized by Bellair and others because it applies only to government databases; only covers records indexed by a personal identifier, do not assign any federal agency the responsibility of enforcing its provisions, and allows federal agencies to share records.

27. The Fair Credit Report Act says that information which may negatively affect an individual’s credit rating must be removed after seven years. What are two exceptions to this guideline?

Information about criminal convictions may be kept indefinitely, and bankruptcy information may be held for 10 years.

28. How does the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act help consumers verify the accuracy of their credit reports?

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act helps consumers verify the accuracy of their credit reports by giving them the right to request a free copy of their credit report once a year from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus.

29. Summarize the major provisions of the Financial Services Modernization Act.

The major provisions of the Financial Services Modernization Act are: allowing banks to offer insurance and brokerage services, requiring financial institutions to disclose their privacy policies to their customers at least once a year, and requiring financial institutions to take measures to prevent the unauthorized access of customers' confidential information.

30. Give two examples of data mining programs run by governments.

The IRS uses data mining to determine whom it should audit. New York City's Syndromic Surveillance System looks for epidemics, environmental problems, or bioterrorism. The Terrorist Information Awareness project is a third example of data miningby the U.S. government.

31. What are the problems with using the Social Security number as an identification number?

Social Security numbers are not unique. They are rarely checked, so criminals can get away with supplying fake SSNs. They have no error-detecting capability, so SSNs are prone to data-entry errors.


32. Give two arguments in favor of a national identification card for the United States. Give two arguments against creating a national identification card.

Proponents of a national identification card argue that a modern identification card with biometric data would be harder to forge than a Social Security card or a driver's license. A national identification card would reduce illegal immigration by making it impossible for an illegal alien to find work.
Opponents of a national identification card say that corrupt offcials inside government agencies would make it possible for people to obtain fake national identification cards. A national identification card will simply make it easier for the government to perform data mining on the activities of its citizens.

33. What are the rights provided by the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act?

The Family Education Rights and Privacy Act gives students 18 years old and older the right to review their educational records. It also gives them the right to request changes to records containing errors. Students may prevent others from accessing these records without permission, except under certain circumstances. If a student is less than 18 years old, these rights are held by the student's parents or guardians.

34. How does the Video Privacy Protection Act enhance privacy?

The Video Privacy Protection Act enhances privacy by making it illegal for videotape service providers to disclose rental records without the consent of the customer. The law also requires stores to destroy information about who rented what within a year of when the information is no longer needed for the purposes of the original transaction.

35. Describe the privacy protections resulting from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act limits how doctors, hospitals, pharmacies, and insurance companies can use medical information collected from patients. The regulations forbid health care providers from releasing information to life insurance companies, banks, or other businesses without specific signed authorization from the person being treated. Health care providers must provide their patients witha notice describing how they use the information they gather. Patients have the right to see their medical records and request corrections to errors they find in those records.

36. What is the purpose of the Freedom of Information Act?

The purpose of the Freedom of Information Act is to ensure that the public has access to the records of the U.S. government.

37. Name two important exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act that allow the government to withhold information.

The Freedom of Information Act has nine exemptions, but two are particularly important. The Government does not have to release documents if they contain trade secrets or other confidential nancial or commercial information. The Government does not have to release documents related to law enforcement investigations.

38. Give an example of how information gathered by the E-ZPass system has been used for a purpose other than collecting tolls.

Information collected by the E-ZPass network have been used to help obtain civil and criminal convictions in court. For example, E-ZPass records were used as evidence in the murder trial of Melanie McGuire. The records helped the prosecutor reconstruct her movements.

39. How did the Federal Trade Commission reduce unwanted telemarketing?

The Federal Trade Commission reduced unwanted telemarketing by creating the National Do Not Call Registry.

40. What is the purpose of the CALM Act?
The purpose of the CALM Act is to ensure that television commercials are broadcast at the same volume as the television programs they are interrupting.

41. Why have federal and state governments passed laws limiting access to cold products containing pseudoephedrine?

Federal and state governments have passed laws limiting access to cold products containing pseudoephedrine because they are trying to eliminate the illegal manufacturing of methamphetamine, and pseudoephedrine is an ingredient of methamphetamine.

42. Why has privacy groups objected to the installation of advanced imaging technology scanners at airport security checkpoints? How has the Transportation Security Administration responded to these objections?

Privacy groups objected to the installation of advanced imaging technology scanners at airport security checkpoints because the scanners revealed anatomical features in great detail. The Transportation Security Administration responded to this criticism by developing new software that eliminates passenger-specific images and indicates the location of threatening items on a generic outline of a person.

Chapter 5 Review Questions

 1. How is Whitepages.com able to produce a map to a person’s home, given only that person’s phone number?

Whitepages.com combines information contained in two databases. The first database ties phone numbers to addresses. The second database ties addresses to locations on a map. By combining information in these databases, Whitepages.com can show the map location associated with a phone number.

2. Is privacy a negative right or a positive right?

Privacy is a negative right because all I have to do to give you privacy is leave you alone.

3. What right is guaranteed by the Third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution?

The Third Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gives people the right to refuse to let the government quarter soldiers in their homes in peacetime.

4. What does it mean when we say that privacy is a prudential right?

When we say privacy is a prudential right, we mean that granting people this right provides a net benefit to society. Hence it is prudent for a society to choose to give its members some privacy.

5. Give three examples of ways in which an inhabitant of New York City in 2003 has more privacy than an inhabitant of New York City in 1903.

With the invention of air conditioning and television, people spend more time in their own apartments than they did 100 years ago. Automobiles and taxicabs give people more privacy than subway cars. Young adults are more likely to live away from their parents than they were 100 years ago. Other examples are possible, of course.


6. What is a public record?
 
A public record contains information reported to a government agency for the purpose of informing the public.

7.  List five pieces of information about a person that are public records.

Here are a few examples of public records that may exist about a person: legal name, address, list of real estate owned, property tax records, political party, date of birth, date of marriage, date of divorce, and date of death.

8. Provide an example (not already given in the book) of a situation where people must disclose personal information to a private organization in order to get something they want.

Here are a couple of possible answers. In order to get a job, many people are required to take a drug test; i.e., submit a urine sample. People routinely submit urine and blood samples and hand over medical records in order to get a life insurance policy.

9. What objections were raised to Facebook’s introduction of the Tag Suggestions feature?

The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a complaint about Facebook Tag Suggestions because Facebook apparently used photos posted on its site to develop its facial recognition technology, but it never received consent from Facebook users to use their photos for this purpose.

10. Why do enhanced 911 services raise new concerns about privacy?

Enhanced 911 service raises new concerns about privacy because in order to implement this service, cell phone companies must install technology that enables them to track the positions of all active cell phones.


11. How do companies use loyalty cards to improve their sales?

By keeping track of a consumer's purchases using a loyalty card, a company can predict which other products that consumer may be interested in purchasing and generate coupons for those products to stimulate a sale

12. What privacy concerns have been raised with the increasing use of RFID tags?

If consumers cannot detach or disable the RFID tags associated with items they have purchased, then information about their possessions may be collected by other people with RFID scanners.

13. How are RFID tags being used to return pets to owners?

If every pet has an embedded RFID tag with the address and phone number of the owner, then authorities who recover a stray pet can use an RFID scanner to read this information and quickly return the pet to her owner.

14. What safety and security features are provided by the OnStar system?

A two-way communication system allows drivers who need help to contact an OnStar representative. If the vehicle's airbags deploy, the system automatically communicates the location of the vehicle to an OnStar center. OnStar can be used to help owners recover stolen vehicles. OnStar representatives also have the power to disable the gas pedal on OnStar-equipped vehicles.

15. What are the advantages of consolidating a patient’s medical records into a single database accessible by many? What are the risks associated with this consolidation?

Consolidating a patient's medical records into a single database can make it easier for multiple health care professionals to provide quality service to that patient. For example, having all of a person's prescriptions in a single database makes it easier to identify potentially dangerous drug interactions. The risk of consolidation is that if someone should gain access to the database without authorization, that person would get access to all of that patient's medical information.

16. In what way do digital video recorders provide viewers with less privacy than videotape recorders?

Digital video recorders provide viewers with less privacy that videotape recorders because they report information about the viewing history back to the subscription service providing the DVR.

17. How could “cookies” created by a Web server affect a computer user’s privacy?

Cookies created by a Web server can affect your privacy because if someone else should steal your cookie, that person can impersonate you.

18. What is data mining?

Data mining means searching through multiple databases looking for patterns or relationships in the records.

19. What are we referring to when we talk about a secondary use of data?

Secondary use of data is when information captured for one purpose is put to another purpose.


20. What is collaborative filtering? Who uses it?

Collaborative filtering is a way of helping an individual wade through a large amount of choices and focus in on the best ones. It uses information about the preferences of a large number of people to predict those items an individual is more likely to like. On-line retailers and movie-rental sites use collaborative filtering to make recommendations.

21. How are some political campaigns using data mining?
Some campaigns are using data mining because it enables them to target their direct mailings and home visits to the people most likely to support their candidates.

22. Explain the difference between an opt-in policy and an opt-out policy.

An opt-in policy requires a consumer to explicitly give permission before an organization can share information it has collected about the individual. An opt-out policy allows an organization to share information it has collected about a consumer unless the individual explicitly forbids it.

23. What about Facebook Beacon made it so unpopular with Facebook users?

Facebook's decision to make their Beacon system opt-out infuriated many Facebook users, who didn't even know Beacon existed until it had revealed information they thought was private.

24. Give three examples of how data mining is being used on information collected from social networks.

Cell phone companies are using data mining on social networks to identify ‘influencers” and offer them incentives to keep them loyal. Police are using data mining on social networks to identify where big parties are happening and deploy officers accordingly. Banks are using data mining to evaluate the riskiness of loans.