Big Brother Dilemma - Notes

Created by Lida L. Larsen (EDUCAUSE) on June 10, 2008

Big Brother Dilemma
Speaker: Greg Jackson, University of Chicago
EDUCAUSE 2008 Enterprise Information and Technology Conference General Session, May 2008, Chicago, IL

Podcast available at http://connect.educause.edu/blog/gbayne/podcastthebigbrotherdilem/46893

Notes:

Jackson has been at the University of Chicago for 12 years - in that time he has had 3 presidents, 4 provosts, and 4 CFOs.

He spoke on the many issues surrounding convenience vs privacy issues. There are many things that we want for our convenience but we don't want because they threaten us in some way at the same time.

A key example was ID cards and passports with RFID chips. RFID data can give us convenient access but at the same time that access can be logged.

He noted that Chicago Transit Authority smart cards make traveling the system easy for users but because it traces your activity it has also been used to crack down on truancy.

Keys make no record as smart cards do which raises the issue of data collection and privacy issues. Who gets to see the data? How is it used?

He discussed concerns brought to light by the book Shibumi by Trevanian where the Mother company has a "Fat Boy" computer that holds a medley of information from all the computers in the western world.

Collecting data means others might get access and if we don't collect data things might not work as smoothly for efficient management as we would like.

Jackson discussed a lawsuit against the University of Chicago which required records from the past. They did have the 11 year old records but the cost to display them was so significant that those bringing the lawsuit could not afford the cost of bringing them to light.

He also described a situation in which a Dean offered a job to the preferred candidate who took it, but then there was a leak where confidentiality was broken and the candidate withdrew. They had logs that identified the person who leaked the confidential information and that person was fired. Jackson asks "Do we want data to be destroyed or protected?"

People expect communications to be easy and convenient but also want it protected and secure. He noted that we used to use pay phones with enclosures and now we use cell phones in public - often sharing private information in a very public place. Cell phones dramatically increase convenience but decrease our privacy.

Email provides another dilemma - we don't want anyone to look at our content but we want someone else to look at content to screen out spam.

Jackson suggested that the RIAA and MPAA with their notifications are hungry and we are on the verge of being pressed to do something that crosses the line in watching content.

Filters might protect some from lawsuits and liability but most want to make the choices themselves. Filtering based on content is cutting close to the edge. Institutional data can be irretrievably lost when too much encryption is used and encryption is breakable. Jackson asks "Should we encourage or discourage encryption?" When we permit encryption we must provide a backup to keep data safe from being lost.

Jackson then discussed issues with security cameras.
Remotely aimed video cameras with radio that feeds signals to police and 80211 so police cars can read signals as well can be very helpful but can also intrude on our privacy.

MIT garage stairwells had a camera record and produce a live feed as a test some time ago. The camera caught good and bad which began a disagreement between those who wanted the cameras and those who did not. Those against won and the stairwells remained unguarded.

Recently near the University of Chicago there was a murder and an eyewitness saw a white car with red door. Video capture led to arrest. Because of this success, some want more cameras installed and times having changed there is more sympathy for "big brother" and the cameras will go in.

The goal is to catch bad guys and so many cameras are camouflaged so they can catch the bad guys in the act. But we want the cameras to ignore everyone but the bad guys and so these hidden cameras put us back on the horns of the dilemma.

Jackson observed that individual members of a community want to do what is right for the institution, therefore we serve big brother and their objectives and become big brother.

Our choices of how to balance the issues set examples to others and so we lead by example

Who is big brother: Big Brother is Us - we represent the collective will of our communities. Not easy to represent the collective will. We can't just take polls so we must help people understand and be thoughtfully arrogant enough to make the decisions.

He went on to say that big brother has a big brother. This reflects a larger picture and we need to look at centralized and decentralized issues. He mentioned that the enterprise and the cloud are beginning to reclaim the PDA and security can no longer be managed centrally thus decentralization reduces the big brother dilemma

Jackson showed a number of video clips throughout his presentation.

Q&A

Video surveillance is more socialized in Europe than here. Battle has already been fought and lost there. If this is true, "How do we socialize ourselves and institutions the abandonment of privacy and such?"

Twitter doesn't remember, Facebook remembers. Many find that it's fun to be public but don't understand the persistence of the data. Some remember slam books of the past and Juicy Campus is slam books to the extreme. It is a major educational challenge to bring this awareness to our students. We have enough trouble getting orientation time for legal issues.

Jackson described a Bob Newhart clip about the idea that monkeys typing would eventually end up with the "great books". Guys are walking up and down aisles to see if those monkeys are typing the great books. Some technology so top heavy it may collapse on its own. We don't have the ability to analyze everything. We can store terabytes of info but can we organize, index, and retrieve it.

What do you think CIOs should be doing? What course of action? ...proactive rather than reactive? We must re-engage with the education process. When first-years show up we need to teach them to be themselves and not the children of their parents.

Podcast available at http://connect.educause.edu/blog/gbayne/podcastthebigbrotherdilem/46893

EDUCAUSE_ENT08 | Gregory A. Jackson | Privacy Issues

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		Big Brother Dilemma - Notes Created by Lida L. Larsen (EDUCAUSE) on June 10, 2008 Big Brother Dilemma Speaker: Greg Jackson, University of Chicago EDUCAUSE 2008 Enterprise Information and Technology Conference General Session, May 2008, Chicago, IL Podcast available at http://connect.educause.edu/blog/gbayne/podcastthebigbrotherdilem/46893 Notes: Jackson has been at the University of Chicago for 12 years - in that time he has had 3 presidents, 4 provosts, and 4 CFOs. He spoke on the many issues surrounding convenience vs privacy issues. There are many things that we want for our convenience but we don't want because they threaten us in some way at the same time. A key example was ID cards and passports with RFID chips. RFID data can give us convenient access but at the same time that access can be logged. He noted that Chicago Transit Authority smart cards make traveling the system easy for users but because it traces your activity it has also been used to crack down on truancy. Keys make no record as smart cards do which raises the issue of data collection and privacy issues. Who gets to see the data? How is it used? He discussed concerns brought to light by the book Shibumi by Trevanian where the Mother company has a "Fat Boy" computer that holds a medley of information from all the computers in the western world. Collecting data means others might get access and if we don't collect data things might not work as smoothly for efficient management as we would like. Jackson discussed a lawsuit against the University of Chicago which required records from the past. They did have the 11 year old records but the cost to display them was so significant that those bringing the lawsuit could not afford the cost of bringing them to light. He also described a situation in which a Dean offered a job to the preferred candidate who took it, but then there was a leak where confidentiality was broken and the candidate withdrew. They had logs that identified the person who leaked the confidential information and that person was fired. Jackson asks "Do we want data to be destroyed or protected?" People expect communications to be easy and convenient but also want it protected and secure. He noted that we used to use pay phones with enclosures and now we use cell phones in public - often sharing private information in a very public place. Cell phones dramatically increase convenience but decrease our privacy. Email provides another dilemma - we don't want anyone to look at our content but we want someone else to look at content to screen out spam. Jackson suggested that the RIAA and MPAA with their notifications are hungry and we are on the verge of being pressed to do something that crosses the line in watching content. Filters might protect some from lawsuits and liability but most want to make the choices themselves. Filtering based on content is cutting close to the edge. Institutional data can be irretrievably lost when too much encryption is used and encryption is breakable. Jackson asks "Should we encourage or discourage encryption?" When we permit encryption we must provide a backup to keep data safe from being lost. Jackson then discussed issues with security cameras. Remotely aimed video cameras with radio that feeds signals to police and 80211 so police cars can read signals as well can be very helpful but can also intrude on our privacy. MIT garage stairwells had a camera record and produce a live feed as a test some time ago. The camera caught good and bad which began a disagreement between those who wanted the cameras and those who did not. Those against won and the stairwells remained unguarded. Recently near the University of Chicago there was a murder and an eyewitness saw a white car with red door. Video capture led to arrest. Because of this success, some want more cameras installed and times having changed there is more sympathy for "big brother" and the cameras will go in. The goal is to catch bad guys and so many cameras are camouflaged so they can catch the bad guys in the act. But we want the cameras to ignore everyone but the bad guys and so these hidden cameras put us back on the horns of the dilemma. Jackson observed that individual members of a community want to do what is right for the institution, therefore we serve big brother and their objectives and become big brother. Our choices of how to balance the issues set examples to others and so we lead by example Who is big brother: Big Brother is Us - we represent the collective will of our communities. Not easy to represent the collective will. We can't just take polls so we must help people understand and be thoughtfully arrogant enough to make the decisions. He went on to say that big brother has a big brother. This reflects a larger picture and we need to look at centralized and decentralized issues. He mentioned that the enterprise and the cloud are beginning to reclaim the PDA and security can no longer be managed centrally thus decentralization reduces the big brother dilemma Jackson showed a number of video clips throughout his presentation. Q&A Video surveillance is more socialized in Europe than here. Battle has already been fought and lost there. If this is true, "How do we socialize ourselves and institutions the abandonment of privacy and such?" Twitter doesn't remember, Facebook remembers. Many find that it's fun to be public but don't understand the persistence of the data. Some remember slam books of the past and Juicy Campus is slam books to the extreme. It is a major educational challenge to bring this awareness to our students. We have enough trouble getting orientation time for legal issues. Jackson described a Bob Newhart clip about the idea that monkeys typing would eventually end up with the "great books". Guys are walking up and down aisles to see if those monkeys are typing the great books. Some technology so top heavy it may collapse on its own. We don't have the ability to analyze everything. We can store terabytes of info but can we organize, index, and retrieve it. What do you think CIOs should be doing? What course of action? ...proactive rather than reactive? We must re-engage with the education process. When first-years show up we need to teach them to be themselves and not the children of their parents. Podcast available at http://connect.educause.edu/blog/gbayne/podcastthebigbrotherdilem/46893 EDUCAUSE_ENT08 \| Gregory A. Jackson \| Privacy Issues Lida's blog Login or register to post comments 177 reads
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