FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

The right to privacy online is linked essentially to one’s ability
to control disclosure of personal identity. This ability to control
access to your identity is easy in the physical world: We not
only decide who we interact with but our personal details are
not often in danger of exposure during simple activities such as
walking around town. We normally do not even provide our
names unless requested (unless at a conference where no one
seems to mind wearing name tags with our personal and company
info for all to see). In the Internet the opposite is true—
almost anyone willing to invest a little bit of effort can easily
uncover the digital footprints left on any site you’ve visited at
any date in the past.
This ability to control and hide one’s identity is critical in
maintaining a society that is capable of protecting freedom of
expression. When government or other organizations decide
that simply visiting and viewing certain information sites is a
threat, the possibility of censorship takes away one of the most
important powers of the Internet—freedom of expression.
Individuals with differing political, religious, or lifestyle beliefs
can use the power of the Internet to protect and educate others
without the fear of censorship or punishment only if privacy
is allowed. The transparency of the Web can be unforgiving,
but never a complete picture of the whole story. Historical data
that shows mistakes in an individual’s past may not include
enough of the data needed to paint a true picture. (PS: Will
someone please tell the insurance company that the Ben and
Jerry’s Ice Cream wasn’t for me and that my increased weight
is really in error. They recorded my weight in kg instead of
pounds; besides, I really have been hitting the gym, I just
haven’t swiped my card every time, OK?) 191

PERSONALIZATION GOES BOTH WAYS

Personal computers that access the Web open the door to
intrusion, but the Wireless Internet will likely produce more
valuable data because most devices can be tied to a person and
not just a household or fixed work location. The fact that content
destined for a wireless device is most often altered and filtered
to conform to smaller screens and limited navigation
provides even more specific data than PC surfing would generate.
A PC data trail may only show a visit to a Web directory
page that contains listings for entertainment; the wireless
device would likely go a level deeper and reveal that a user was
looking at listings for gambling entertainment. Location-based
services will also add another layer of very valuable information—
the history of exactly where you have been for how long.
Because technology and the data generated can be used for
legitimate purposes as well as abused, we will likely not see this
process of collection, storage, and analysis disappear. It may,
however, eventually come under the guidance of laws and regulation
that limit the potential for abuse.

Solving consumer privacy and security issues is key to
enabling growth of the Wireless Internet as applications
improve and become more personal. The current content
accessed most commonly via wireless devices is not very personal—
stock quotes, weather, general news, and the like. But
future applications will enable transactions and inquiries into
personal records like bank accounts and medical records—data
that is personal and damaging in the wrong hands.
Surprisingly, the U.S. constitution does not currently guarantee
privacy, unlike in Europe where the E.U. constitution
actually guarantees a level of privacy. Many other countries
have no similar laws, and in an online world where boundaries
blur, even the existing laws can be hard to enforce.