MyOwnInformation

The Lesson of the License Plate

Your Personal Intellectual Property

The way we handle disclosure in the realm of cars and drivers and roadways instructs our search for anonymity with accountability. A car's registration number is on display for all the public to see. But we cannot know the identity of the person to whom it is registered unless we produce a right to know and a need to know, as for example if the car was involved in an accident that affects us. That system has flaws, of course. Motor vehicle administrators often have difficulty complying with privacy standards even in jurisdictions that have them (not all do.) When they get a call from a "police officer" asking for the identity of the owner of a vehicle, the caller may really be a jealous lover impersonating a law officer. Due process can be difficult to observe on the phone. Online, however, we can use the tools of the Authenticity Infrastructure to ensure that due process is observed, that anonymity is available, that privacy is protected - and yet society still has the benefit of individual accountability.

Bent&Co

Senior Web Developer

In the online world we are faced with a real conundrum: we are all victims of an epidemic of theft of personal information. The sites we visit, the purchases we make, the searches we perform, all leave a trail that is used by the cookie clubs to produce extremely detailed pictures of ourselves, our political inclinations, our habits, schedules, money... just everything. This information is then used for the same purpose as stage magicians have done for centuries: to manipulate our perceptions. It's true, laws have not caught up with this form of theft of personal property. But then, what laws, what legal jurisdiction, is up to the job anyway? Bits on the Internet know nothing about national boundaries. The situation is bad. Our personal property - information about ourselves - is stolen in plain daylight by cookie clubs whose members are "reputable" companies and governments. But what if absolute anonymity were always available to anyone in any circumstance? What if a group of terrorists were seen to be planning the importation of nuclear or biological weapons. Who among us would say that no trail of information involving the plot should be available to any investigator, any court of law, as the suspects' privacy is our overriding concern?

PC World

Junior Web Developer

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