Michael Zimmer, PhDFellow, Information Society Project
Yale Law School
ASIS&T Annual ConferenceMilwaukee, WI
October 11, 2007
Privacy and Surveillancein Web 2.0A study in Contextual Integrity,and the Emergence of Netaveillance
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Privacy and Surveillance inWeb 2.0
• Requires conceptualization ofprivacy as “contextual integrity”
• Informational voyeurism leads tonotion of “netaveillance”
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Personal Information Flows
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Personal Information Flows
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No Expectation of Privacy?
Kids today. They have no sense of shame.They have no sense of privacy. They areshow-offs, fame whores, pornographic littleloons who post their diaries, their phonenumbers, their stupid poetry—for God’s sake,their dirty photos!—online.
New York Magazine
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No Expectation of Privacy?
[The] Internet has unleashed the greatestoutburst of mass exhibitionism in humanhistory. …millions of Americans are gleefullydiscarding – or at least cheerfullycompromising – their right to privacy. They'reposting personal and intimate stuff in placeswhere thousands or millions can see it.
Washington Post
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Freddi Staur(ID Fraudster)
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Freddi Staur(ID Fraudster)
• 87 of the 200 Facebook users contactedresponded to Freddi, with 82 leaking personalinformation (41% of those approached)– 72% divulged one or more email address– 84% listed their full date of birth– 87% provided details about their education or
workplace– 78% listed their current address or location– 23% listed their current phone number– 26% provided their instant messaging screenname
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Privacy as Contextual Integrity
• Privacy != Secrecy• Privacy != Dichotomy of public/private
• Privacy is contextual• Governed by norms of information flow• If norms are breached, contextual
integrity is violated
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Facebook’s Mini-Feed
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Facebook’s Mini-Feed
“We didn’t take away any privacy options.The privacy rules haven’t changed. None ofyour information is visible to anyone whocouldn’t see it before the changes.… Nothing you do is being broadcast; rather,it is being shared with people who care aboutwhat you do—your friends”
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Pre Mini-Feed
Before After
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Facebook’s Mini-Feed
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Privacy as Contextual Integrity
To teens, all personal information is notcreated equal. They say it is very important tounderstand the context of an information-sharing encounter
“Teens, Privacy, andOnline Social Networks”
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Shifting Norms?
• Contextual Integrity is dependant onpreservation of existing norms ofinformation flow
• Are open information flows becoming anew norm?
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Informational Voyeurism
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Informational VoyeurismPlazes
Dopplr
Upcoming
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Informational Voyeurism
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Informational VoyeurismDigg
Flickr
YouTube
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Strained Terminology & Theory
• Surveillance: to watch over– Lateral surveillance– Peer-to-peer surveillance
• Panopticon:– Participatory panopticon– Non-opticon
• Equivaillence• Sousvaillance
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“Netaveillance”
• “Neta” ネタ– Tidbits of life shared as social currency
• Netaveillance– Openly and purposefully providing a
continual stream of the details of one’sdaily life
– Coupled with ability to view and capturesimilar streams from others
Michael Zimmer, PhDFellow, Information Society Project
Yale Law [email protected]
http://michaelzimmer.org
Privacy and Surveillancein Web 2.0A study in Contextual Integrity,and the Emergence of Netaveillance