The following document is from the PRIVACY Forum Archive at Vortex Technology, Woodland Hills, California, U.S.A. For direct web access to the PRIVACY Forum and PRIVACY Forum Radio, including detailed information, archives, keyword searching, and related facilities, please visit the PRIVACY Forum via the web URL: http://www.vortex.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- PRIVACY Forum Digest Sunday, 15 March 1998 Volume 07 : Issue 05 Moderated by Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com) Vortex Technology, Woodland Hills, CA, U.S.A. http://www.vortex.com ===== PRIVACY FORUM ===== ------------------------------------------------------------------- The PRIVACY Forum is supported in part by the ACM (Association for Computing Machinery) Committee on Computers and Public Policy, "internetMCI" (a service of the Data Services Division of MCI Telecommunications Corporation), Cisco Systems, Inc., and Telos Systems. - - - These organizations do not operate or control the PRIVACY Forum in any manner, and their support does not imply agreement on their part with nor responsibility for any materials posted on or related to the PRIVACY Forum. ------------------------------------------------------------------- CONTENTS E-mail block list now available; Media contact information (Lauren Weinstein; PRIVACY Forum Moderator) Satellite Surveillance (Bryan Costin) On Line Course of Cyberspace Privacy (Michael J. Lehmkuhl) TPRC 98. Call for Papers (Juan F. Riveros) Medical Privacy Conference 3/27/98 Baltimore (Mimi Azrael) *** Please include a RELEVANT "Subject:" line on all submissions! *** *** Submissions without them may be ignored! *** ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Internet PRIVACY Forum is a moderated digest for the discussion and analysis of issues relating to the general topic of privacy (both personal and collective) in the "information age" of the 1990's and beyond. The moderator will choose submissions for inclusion based on their relevance and content. Submissions will not be routinely acknowledged. All submissions should be addressed to "privacy@vortex.com" and must have RELEVANT "Subject:" lines; submissions without appropriate and relevant "Subject:" lines may be ignored. Excessive "signatures" on submissions are subject to editing. Subscriptions are by an automatic "listserv" system; for subscription information, please send a message consisting of the word "help" (quotes not included) in the BODY of a message to: "privacy-request@vortex.com". Mailing list problems should be reported to "list-maint@vortex.com". All messages included in this digest represent the views of their individual authors and all messages submitted must be appropriate to be distributable without limitations. The PRIVACY Forum archive, including all issues of the digest and all related materials, is available via anonymous FTP from site "ftp.vortex.com", in the "/privacy" directory. Use the FTP login "ftp" or "anonymous", and enter your e-mail address as the password. The typical "README" and "INDEX" files are available to guide you through the files available for FTP access. PRIVACY Forum materials may also be obtained automatically via e-mail through the listserv system. Please follow the instructions above for getting the listserv "help" information, which includes details regarding the "index" and "get" listserv commands, which are used to access the PRIVACY Forum archive. All PRIVACY Forum materials are available through the Internet Gopher system via a gopher server on site "gopher.vortex.com". Access to PRIVACY Forum materials is also available through the Internet World Wide Web (WWW) via the Vortex Technology WWW server at the URL: "http://www.vortex.com"; full keyword searching of all PRIVACY Forum files is available via WWW access. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- VOLUME 07, ISSUE 05 Quote for the day: "A lesson to remember: Never fall in love during a total eclipse." -- Senex (Michael Hordern) "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" (United Artists; 1966) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 15 Mar 98 15:29 PST From: lauren@vortex.com (Lauren Weinstein; PRIVACY Forum Moderator) Subject: E-mail block list now available; Media contact information Greetings. As I've reported in the past (and as you are no doubt aware) SPAM and other forms of UBE (Unsolicited Bulk E-mail) continue to grow in both sheer volume and in the range of resources (machine, human, time, you name it...) that they consume. These messages frequently promote various frauds, get-rich-quick schemes, illegal merchandise, a remarkable range of pornography, and in general a whole pile of garbage, to use polite terminology. Judging from concerns I hear and see every day, many persons consider SPAM/UBE to be a direct invasion of their privacy and a matter of greatly increasing concern. I've been taking steps here at the PRIVACY Forum to at least cut down on the quantity of received SPAM/UBE for quite sometime. Due to the continuing requests for details, I've now made the complete e-mail block list for the PRIVACY Forum (the VORTEX.COM block list) available, along with additional information which may be of interest to anyone concerned about these issues. The block list itself is updated daily. For the complete details, please see: http://www.vortex.com/mailblock.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I receive a large number of press and other media inquiries concerning privacy, technology, and society-related issues, and since I consider these to be critically important topics I welcome these queries and do my best to accommodate them and related requests whenever possible. To provide a simple initial point of contact for such media requests, I've set up a special web page containing relevant related information. This page also includes references to other PRIVACY Forum materials of possible interest to media outlets, including short radio newsfeatures on both privacy and other "technology and society" topics. This media contact page is: http://www.vortex.com/privmedia.html - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming... --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein Moderator, PRIVACY Forum http://www.vortex.com ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 22 Feb 1998 03:21:09 -0500 From: Bryan Costin Subject: Satellite Surveillance I found the "When is a Satellite Photo An Unreasonable Search" article quite interesting. But I find the distinction between sat imaging and standard airplane-based photos somewhat confusing. One is new, the other is old, but practically speaking they pretty much amount to the same thing. Does it really matter what altitude or orientation the picture has been taken from? If this is really a privacy issue, wouldn't it be sensible to apply the same standard across the board? And, to play devil's advocate, I have to wonder if taking pictures of something just sitting around outside is really all that "unreasonable". Farmer Floyd Dunn's alleged transgression was captured by a satellite, but would the results really be any different if a state official saw the same activity while glancing over his fence, or standing on a high ridge overlooking the property? Cotton fields aren't invisible to the naked eye, after all. Nor are illegally constructed buildings or illegally cut trees. Not a criticism, just my $.02. :) -Bryan [ Sometimes quantitative differences can be large enough to amount to qualitative issues. There would seem to be a significant difference between something that's visible from across the street through an uncovered window, and what's visible from a helicopter hovering overhead. This attitude would seem to be behind some of the new laws proposed (mainly aimed at celebrity photographers) to limit the acquisition of photos through "extraordinary" means. On a purely practical level, the amount of data which would typically be available for any given location from plane overflights would usually be far less than from current generation low orbit satellites. The latter routinely pass over most of the planet on a frequent and continuing basis, making photos from such sources much more of a "cheap" commodity and much less specially acquired and expensive intelligence data. This changes both who can realistically access and use the data, and the manners in which it can be used, to a very significant degree. -- PRIVACY Forum MODERATOR ] ------------------------------ Date: Fri, 27 Feb 1998 10:52:59 -0500 From: "Michael J. Lehmkuhl" Subject: On Line Course of Cyberspace Privacy Jim Johnson, moderator of the TelecomLaw list, passed on this information today... I thought it might be of interest to readers of the Privacy Forum... Michael J. Lehmkuhl Pepper & Corazzini, LLP mic@commlaw.com The New York Times today has an article about Harvard's Professor Miller starting an online course in cyberspace privacy. You can check out the offering at http://cyber.harvard.edu/metaschool/index.html. Unfortunately, when I went there this morning, I got a message saying no more registrations would be accepted for the moment. Nonetheless, it is an interesting concept (that means it is free) and you can register for future courses. You can also get more information about how the course will be taught and the initial hypothetical. Conceptually, it appears not so different in approach from TelecomLaw. The course stresses that it will use the Socratic method. Miller was my civil procedure instructor years ago at Michigan and I always had the impression that Miller studied under Socrates. Jim Johnston ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 25 Feb 1998 03:31:58 -0500 (EST) From: "Juan F. Riveros" Subject: TPRC 98. Call for Papers CALL FOR PAPERS The Twenty-Sixth Annual TELECOMMUNICATIONS POLICY RESEARCH CONFERENCE http://www.si.umich.edu/~prie/tprc/ October 3-5, 1998 Radisson Mark Plaza, Alexandria, Virginia The Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC) is an annual forum for dialogue among scholars and decision-makers from the public and private sectors engaged in communication and information policy. The purpose of the conference is to acquaint policymakers with the best of recent research and to familiarize researchers with the knowledge needs of policymakers and industry. The TPRC program is assembled from submitted abstracts, invited papers and proposals for complete sessions. TPRC is now soliciting research papers or session proposals for presentation at its 1998 conference. Papers should be based on current theoretical and/or empirical research relevant to the making of communication and information policy, and may be from any disciplinary perspective. TPRC welcomes national, international, or comparative studies. Subject areas of particular interest include, but are not limited to: * 1996 Telecom Act * Universal Service * Wireless Services * Unintended Consequences of Regulation * Unbundling the Local Loop * State Regulation * Convergence: Technological Developments and Regulatory Implications * Privacy (Crypto, Anonymity, Personal Data) * Intellectual Property * Content Control * Information Infrastructure Security * Taxation of Internet Services * Antitrust, Concentration and Mergers * Household Information Environments * Internet and Telephone Numbers and Names * Internet Jurisdiction * Software Competition * Internet/Intranet Effects on Organizations * Electronic Commerce * Communication Reform in Developing Countries * Spectrum Allocation and Auctions * New Satellite Systems * Infrastructure Investment * Pirate Broadcasting * Transition to Digital TV * Competitive Models of Mass Media Submissions must be sent electronically to Dawn Higgins at tprc@ei.com and should consist of an abstract of a paper or session proposal in ASCII text. If a paper is available, it should be sent as an attachment in MS Word or Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) format. In addition, it would be helpful to the Program Committee to submit with your abstract a one page CV which includes citations of relevant work. Submissions are due no later than March 27, 1998. Selected papers will be required to be no more than 30 pages and will be due to TPRC by September 7, 1998. TPRC intends to provide access to all accepted papers either through publication on our web site or through a link to its publisher. Inquiries may be made to Dawn Higgins: (202) 452-9033 Telecommunications Policy Research Conference P.O. Box 19203 Washington, DC 20036 ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 12 Mar 1998 15:35:22 +0000 From: Mimi Azrael Subject: Medical Privacy Conference 3/27/98 Baltimore The Women's Law Center of Maryland, Inc. presents MEDICAL PRIVACY IN THE INFORMATION AGE: ACCESS, ETHICS AND ACCOUNTABILITY Whose Right to Know? Friday, March 27, 1998 - 8:30 a.m. to 3: 30 p.m. University of Baltimore Law Center Moot Court Room Maryland and Mt. Royal Avenues, Baltimore, MD Co-sponsored by Ober, Kaler Grimes & Shriver, P.C. (Luncheon and parking included in admission) Can medical privacy, as a core value, survive the information age? What changes lie ahead as health care goes paperless? Are we Naked in Cyberspace? CONTACTS: Conference Program: Mimi Azrael, Esquire c/o The Women's Law Center of Maryland, Inc. 305 West Chesapeake Avenue, Suite 201, Towon, MD 21204 Direct dial: 410-821-6800 Ext. 339 Direct fax: 410-821-1265 WLC Office: 410-321-8761 voicemail 2 WLC Office fax: 410-0462 fax E-mail Registration, conference brochure, press passes, administration: Dee Bock The Women's Law Center of Maryland, Inc. 305 West Chesapeake Avenue, Suite 201, Towson, MD 21204 410-321-8761 voicemail 2 410-321-0462 fax PRESS RELEASE (BALTIMORE, for immediate release) On Friday, March 27, 1998 The Women's Law Center of Maryland, Inc., a non-profit legal rights organization established in 1971, hosts Medical Privacy in the Information Age: Access, Information and Accountability from 8:30 am - 4:30 p.m. at the University of Baltimore Law Center Moot Court Room in Baltimore.. Hear what experts have to say about age-old and new tensions affecting patients' rights to confidential medical treatment and the rights of employers, creditors, the press, law enforcement agencies, researchers, the government, and others in a free society to access personal medical information Registration Form Advance registration discount through March 23, 1998: $85 for WLC members ; $95 for non-members; $25 for students (with valid ID) On-site registration: add $10 Conference Co-sponsors Medical Privacy Program and Panelists Registration Form Naked in Cyberspace About The Women's Law Center Electronic Democracy About The Family Law Center Back to WLC Medical Privacy Conference Home Page Medical Privacy Conference Links WLC publications, tote bags, t-shirts, etc. Medical Privacy in the Information Age: Access, Ethics and Accountability Friday, March 27, 1998 Baltimore MD PANELISTS AND MODERATORS CAROLE A. LANE, Author, Naked in Cyberspace (Oceanside, CA) Considered one of the world's most savvy and respected online researchers, Ms. Lane spent over a decade designing medical and consumer credit database systems. Now president of TechnoSearch, Inc., Ms Lane will demonstrate live, online how easy is to compile detailed dossiers, including medical information, on almost anyone. GRAEME BROWNING, Esq. (Moderator) Center for Democracy and Technology (Washington, D.C.) Author, Electronic Democracy: Using the Internet to Influence American Politics (Online, Inc., 1996). Before joining CDT in 1997, Ms. Browning, an attorney and journalist, wrote for National Journal, covering the intersection of technology and politics. Prior to that, she was a reporter for the Washington Post, the Chicago Sun-Times, the Baltimore Sun, and United Press International (UPI) and legal affairs reporter for the ABC affiliate in Nashville, TN. She now is Communications Director for CDT, a non-profit public interest organization which develops and advocates public policies that advance democratic values and constitutional civil liberties in new computer and communications technologies. STEVEN J. FOX, Esq. (Moderator) Partner, Ober Kaler Grimes & Shriver, P.C. (Baltimore, MD) (Moderator) Mr. Fox chairs Ober Kaler's Information Systems and Technology Practice Group, providing legal advice and strategic consulting with respect to complex information systems, computerized medical records management and patient privacy protection, as well as corporate contractual and intellectual property matters. REBECCA DAUGHERTY, Esq. Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press Ms. Daugherty is the Director of the Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press Freedom of Information (FOI) Service Center in Arlington, VA and is the immediate past president of the American Society of Access Professionals. She is a FOIA expert's expert and the Editor of Tapping Official's Secrets, a guide to open records and open meetings laws. RICHARD S. EPSTEIN, M.D. Trustee-at-Large, American Psychiatric Association (Bethesda, MD) Dr. Epstein is a psychiatrist in private practice and the author of Keeping Boundaries: Maintaining Safety and Integrity in the Psychotherapeutic Process (American Psychiatric Press, 1994). He also is a Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at both Georgetown University School of Medicine and at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (the military medical school) in Bethesda, MD. JENNIFER A. KATZE, M.D. Committee on Confidentiality, American Psychiatric Association (Baltimore, MD) Dr. Katze is a psychiatrist in private practice. KATHLEEN McDERMOTT, Esq. Assistant U.S. Attorney (D.Md.) (Baltimore, MD) Ms. McDermott is a federal prosecutor and the Coordinator of the Health Care Fraud unit of the U.S. Attorneys' Office for the District of Maryland. STEPHANIE REEL Vice President & Chief Information Officer, Johns Hopkins Health System (Baltimore, MD) Johns Hopkins Medicine Center for Information Services provides system support and information system solutions for the Johns Hopkins Health System, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. KAREN SHORE, Ph.D. President and co-founder, National Coalition of Mental Health Professionals and Consumers (Westbury, NY) Dr. Shore is president and co-founder of the National Coalition of Mental Health Professionals and Consumers, a non-profit organization formed in 1992 to preserve consumer privacy, confidentiality and quality in mental health care by promoting pro-patient health plans and exposing abuses of managed care. KAREN TRUDEL Senior Technical Advisor, HCFA Office of Information Services (Baltimore, MD) Ms. Trudel is Senior Technical Advisor to the HCFA Office of Information Services and will discuss development of national post-HIPAA standards for security of health information systems and unique patient identifiers. JILLIAN WILSON, Esq. Ober Kaler Grimes & Shriver, P.C. (Baltimore, MD) Ms. Wilson is a health care lawyer. Her practice focuses on risk management, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, fraud and abuse issues, and compliance plans. ... AND OTHER PANELISTS QUESTIONS? CALL 410-321-8761 (voicemail 2) The Women's Law Center of Maryland, Inc. 305 West Chesapeake Avenue, Suite 201, Towson, MD 21204 410-321-8761 voice/410-321-0462 fax (c) 1998 The Women's Law Center, Inc. ------------------------------ End of PRIVACY Forum Digest 07.05 ************************