“Big Brother” and You: Who’s Watching Who? Tom Hurlbutt Program in Writing and Rhetoric 3-15 November 21, 2002

Technology in Our Lives Look around the room Look in your dorms Look in your backpacks Look in the streets

“I guess it's the ability to do things without other people knowing about them.” “To me, privacy is simply the right to go about your life without intrusion by any outside source.” “The right to keep personal stuff out of the prying eyes of others.” “I define privacy as the ability to control what information about yourself you allow others to see.” “I view privacy as a right to keep my personal information from any party to whom I do not explicitly release it.”

Monitoring Technology Look at what is happening at the nation's capital! Look at what is happening at the nation's capital!

Data Collection What happens when you shop at amazon.com? In today’s technological era, the “Cookie Monster” takes on a new meaning.

Is technology solely to blame large threat to society in society? Who else is to blame for this intrusion into our lives? No

Problems within Society

In July of 2002, Princeton University’s Dean of Admission was charged with hacking into Yale University’s website and accessing the admission status of eighteen prospective students using the social security numbers supplied on their admission applications to Princeton. One of the students, Steven Scott Grzenczyk, did not feel this was a serious issue, responding that "[i]t didn't hurt me at all... I'm not sure what the law says about the situation, but I don't think it was a severe violation of anything."

In July of 2002, Princeton University’s Dean of Admission was charged with hacking into Yale University’s website and accessing the admission status of eighteen prospective students using the social security numbers supplied on their admission applications to Princeton. One of the students, Steven Scott Grzenczyk, did not feel this was a serious issue, responding that "[i]t didn't hurt me at all... I'm not sure what the law says about the situation, but I don't think it was a severe violation of anything." Does anyone see anything wrong with this picture?

Solutions… Alright, our society has problems with technology affecting privacy and with its attitudes and perceptions with technology.

Solutions… So what can we do to solve this issue?

Solutions… Start to give more attention and care to privacy Hold others accountable for respecting personal privacy Give citizens the tools to help themselves defend privacy

Questions and Answers ?