TECHNOLOGY AS A THREAT TO
PRIVACY: Ethical Challenges
and Guidelines for the
Information Professionals
*J. J. BRITZ
Department of Information Science
University of Pretoria
0002 Pretoria, South Africa
E-mail: xbritz@libarts.up.ac.za
The aim of this article is to assess the impact of technology on the private lives of people. It is approached from a socio-ethical perspective with specific emphasis on the implications for the information profession. The following issues are dealt with: a clarification of the concepts ethics, technology and privacy. With regard to privacy attention is given to the different categories of private information. In the second part of the article the influence of technology on the processing of personal and private information is discussed with specific reference to the impact that it has on the private lives of individuals. The following areas are identified: the electronic monitoring of people at the workplace, the intercepting and reading of e-mail messages, the merging of databases which contains personal information, the rise in the number of hackers and crackers and the development of software that makes the decoding of digital information virtually impossible. The ethical relevance for the information professional is dealt with in the last part, indicating the levels of relevance and main ethical issues. These ethical issues include, amongst others, the confidential treatment of personal information, the accuracy of this information, the purpose for which private information can be used and the possible gaining of access to an individual's personal and private information without the person being aware of it. Three applicable ethical norms namely freedom, truth and human rights are identified. Based on these norms practical guidelines for the information professional are formulated.
1. INTRODUCTION
We are currently living in the so-called information age which can be described as an era where economic activities are primarily information-based (an age of informationalization). This change is mainly due to the development and use of technology. The main characteristics of this era can be summarized as a rise in the number of knowledge workers, a world that has become more open - in the sense of communication (global village/Gutenberg galaxy) and internationalization (trans-border flow of data).
This paradigm shift brings new ethical and juridical problems which are mainly related to issues such as the right of access to information, the right of privacy which is threatened by the emphasis on the free flow of information, and the protection of the economic interest of the owners of intellectual property.
Against this background the aim of the article is to invest the ethical questions related to the right to privacy of the individual which is threatened by the use of technology. Specific attention will be paid to the challenges that these ethical problems pose to the information professional. A number of practical guidelines, based on ethical norms will also be laid down.
2. CLARIFICATION OF CONCEPTS
2.1. Ethics
The ethical actions of a person can be described in general terms as those actions which fall within the range of those activities that would be regarded as "good". It relates thus to the question of what is good and bad in terms of human action. According to Spinello (1995, p.14) the purpose of ethics is to help us behave honorably and attain those basic goods that make us more fully human.
2.2. Information Technology
For the purpose of this article the definition of information technology of Van Brakel (1989, p.240) will be used, namely: the gathering, organizing, storage and distribution of information in various formats by means of computer and telecommunications techniques based on micro-electronics.
2.3. The Concept Privacy
2.3.1. Definition of Privacy
Privacy can be defined as an individual condition of life characterized by exclusion from publicity (Neetling et al., 1996, p.36). The concept stems from the right to be left alone (Shank, 1986, p.12; Stair, 1992, p.635)
1. Shank (1986, p.13) states that such a perception of privacy set the course for passing of privacy laws in the United States. As such, privacy could be regarded as a natural right which provides the foundation for the legal right. The right to privacy is therefore protected under private law.The legal right to privacy is constitutionally protected in most democratic societies. This constitutional right is expressed in a variety of legislative forms. Examples include the Privacy Act (1974) in the USA, the proposed Open Democracy Act in South Africa (1996) and the Data Protection Act in England. During 1994 Australia also accepted a Privacy Charter containing 18 privacy principles which describe the rights of a citizen concerning personal privacy as effected by handling of information by the state (Collier, 1994, pp.44-45). The Organization for Economic and Coordination and Development (OECD) also accepted (in 1980) the Guidelines for the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flow of Personal Data (Collier, 1994, p.41).
Privacy is an important right because it is a necessary condition for other rights, such as freedom and personal autonomy. A relationship exists between privacy, freedom and human dignity. To respect a person's privacy is to acknowledge such a person's right to freedom and to recognize that individual as an autonomous human being.
The duty to respect a person's privacy is furthermore a prima facie duty. In other words, it is not an absolute duty that does not allow for exceptions. Two examples can be given. Firstly, the police may violate a criminal's privacy by spying or by seizing personal documents (McGarry, 1993, p.178)
2. A government also has the right to gather private and personal information from its citizens with the aim of ensuring order and harmony in society (Ware, 1993, p.205). The right to privacy (as an expression of individual freedom) is thus confined by social responsibility.2.3.2. Different Categories of Private Information
Based on the juridical defini-tion of privacy, two impor-tant aspects which are of specific relevance for the information profession must be emphasized. The first is the fact that privacy as a concept is closely related to information. In terms of the definition of Neethling (1996, p.35), privacy refers to the entirety of facts and informa-
tion which is applicable to a person in a state of isolation. Different categories of private information can furthermore be distinguished namely, private communications, information which relates to the privacy of a person's body, other personal information, and information with regard to a person's possessions. Each of these categories will be briefly dealt with.
• Private communications. This category of privacy concerns all forms of personal communication which a person wishes to keep private. The information exchanged during a reference interview between the user and the information professional can be seen as an example.
• Privacy of the body (Westin, 1967, p.351).This normally refers to medical information and enjoys separate legal protection (Neethling, 1991, pp.35-36). According to this legislation a person has the right to be informed about the nature of an illness as well as the implications thereof. A person also has the right to privacy about the nature of the illness, and cannot be forced to make it known to others. The only exception is when the health, and possibly the lives of others may be endangered by the specific illness - such as the case may be where a person tests HIV positive and the chance exists that other people may contract the virus
• Personal information. Personal information refers to those categories of information which refer to only that specific person, for example name, address and a person's financial information.
• Information about one's possessions. This information is closely related to property rights. A person has control over the information which relates to personal possessions in certain instances. For example, a person may keep private the information about the place where a wallet is kept.
2.4. The Expressed Will to Privacy
The following important aspect of privacy is the desire for privacy (as indicated by an expressed will) since such expressed desire is important for the delimitation of privacy. In short, the desire for privacy implies that privacy will only be at issue in cases where there is a clear expression of a desire for privacy. For example, a personal conversation between two persons will be regarded as private as long as there is an expressed will to keep it private. The moment that this will is relinquished, the information is no longer regarded as private. The same applies to the other categories of personal and private information. If a person makes a private telephone number (as a form of personal information) known to a company, it is no longer regarded as private information but may even be regarded as business information which may legally be traded in. This expressed will to privacy acts therefore as a very important guideline for the information professional regarding the delimitation of privacy.
3. THE INFLUENCE OF TECHNOLOGY ON THE PRO-CESSING OF PERSONAL AND PRIVATE INFORMATION
3.1. The Ethical Implications for the Use of Technology in
the Processing of Information
Although technology has a major impact on the gathering, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information, its main ethical impact relates to accessibility/inaccessibility of information, the manipulation thereof and the quality of information.
3.1.1. Accessibility/Inaccessibility
With regard to accessibility, technology creates the possibility of wider as well as of simultaneous access to information. By implication, more people can access a person's private information. On the other hand, a person can be excluded from necessary personal information in electronic format by means of a variety of security measures, such as passwords. Exclusion is also possible in situations where personal information is only available in electronic
format and where a person is not computer literate or does not have access to information in electronic format.
3.2. Wider and Simultaneous Access to An Individual's
Private Information
3.2.1. Manipulation
The technological manipulation of information includes, amongst others, the integration of information (merging of documents), the repackaging thereof (translations and the integration of textual and graphical formats), and the possible altering of information (changing of photographic images) by electronic means4.
3.2.2. Quality of Information
Apart from the ethical implication pertaining to access to and manipulation of information, the use of technology also has an impact with regard to the quality of information. This applies, amongst others, to the gathering and processing of information. Technology is, for example, increasingly used to assist human observation (for example the use of a television replay to assist the umpire in making decisions during a cricket match), and is as such regarded as a more reliable and accurate "observer" of information. Technology is furthermore one hundred percent accurate in processing activities such as copying of information and mechanical editing. The widespread assumption that "technology is always right" does not however take into account the domino effect that comes into operation when a computer multiplies "one hundred percent correctly" a string of factual and other errors in a document - quite possibly with widespread implications for the handling of a person's private and other personal information. This is of special relevance in cases where important decisions are based on technology generated information.
3.2.3. The Use of Technology As Value Laden Process
The use of technology in the processing of information can therefore not be regarded as ethically neutral. Christians (1991, p.7) refers to the use of technology as a value laden process. It is however, important to take cognizance of Brown's (1990, p.3) remark that, although new ethical problems are posed by the use of technology it does not imply, as he puts it, "...that we should rethink our moral values".
3.3. The Impact of the Use of Technology on the Privacy of People
The impact of the use of technology on the privacy of people manifests itself in a variety of areas. These areas include, inter alia the following:
• The electronic monitoring of people in the workplace. This relates to personal information as discussed earlier on. This is done by so-called electronic eyes. The justification by companies for the use of such technology is to increase productivity. Stair (1992, p.655), however, in the discussion of this practice, clearly points out the ethical problem pertaining to the use of these technologies. According to him peoples' privacy in the workplace are threatened by these devices. It can also lead to a feeling of fear and of always being watched - the so-called panopticon phenomenon.
• The interception and reading of E-mail messages. This poses an ethical problem which relates to the private communication of an individual. It is
technically possible to intercept E-mail messages, and the reading thereof is normally justified by companies because they firstly see the technological infrastructure (E-mail) as a resource belonging to the company and not the individual, and secondly messages are intercepted to check on people to see whether they use the facility for private purposes or to do their job
• The merging of databases which contains personal information. This is also known as databanking (Frocht & Thomas, 1994, p.24). By this is meant the integration of personal information from a variety of databases into one central database. The problem here does not in the first place arise from the integration of the information as such. The main problems pertain to the fact that the individual is not aware of personal information being integrated into a central database, that the individual does not know the purpose/s for which the integration is effected, or by whom or for whose benefit the new database is constructed, and whether the information is accurate. In order to counter these problems relating to privacy and the merging of databases, the American Congress passed the Computer Matching and Privacy Protection Act in the 1980s (Benjamin, 1991, p.11).
• Closely related to the merging of files is the increasing use of buying cards ("frequent-shopper cards") by retail stores. Inside such a card a computer chip is buried that records every item purchased, along with a range of items containing personal information of the buyer (Branscomb, 1995, p.19). The information obtained from the card enables marketing companies to do targeted marketing to specific individuals because profiles reflecting the buying habits and other personal details of people can be construed.
• Another major threat to privacy is the rise in the numbers of so-called
hackers and crackers
• The development of software that makes the decoding of digital information (which may include private information) virtually impossible also poses serious legal and ethical ques-tions because it could offer Protection to criminals. A good
A good example is the development of software called Pretty Good Privacy by P Zimmerman in 1991. According to an article in the IT Review (1996, p.22), Zimmerman has developed the most complex algorithm ever to make the decoding of digital information virtually impossible. The problem here is also the fact that this software is freely available on the Internet for everybody (including criminals!) to use. The US government has laid a charge against Zimmerman for exporting high technology from the USA
7 .3.4. The Individual and Socio-Economic Effect
The use of technology for the processing of personal and other forms of private information has far reaching effects on society. The following effects can be distinguished:
• On the individual level: The effect on the individual can be summarized as a loss of dignity and spontaneity, as well as a threat to freedom and the right to privacy. In her research on the impact of technology on the privacy of the individual, Rosenberg (1994, p.228) concluded that: "Technology continues to be viewed as a threat to privacy rather than a possible solution." A survey that was conducted in 1990 by Equifax (one of the three biggest credit bureau companies in the USA) on the use of technology and the threat to the privacy of people, found that 79% of the respondents indicated that they were wary of the use of technology for the processing of their personal information (Frocht & Thomas, 1994, p.24).
• On the economic and social levels the biggest effect is the growth of large information businesses like credit bureaus and telecommunication companies that specialize in the processing of and trade in person-related information
8. This brings about a redefinition of the role of society (big businesses) in the personal and private lives of the individual (the use of personal information as a commodity). It also becomes clear that the legislation on the protection of the privacy of the individual (for example on E-mail) is falling behind due to the rapidly changing world of technology9.4. THE RELEVANCE FOR THE
INFORMATION PROFESSION
4.1. Three Levels of Relevance for the Information Professional
The above-mentioned has implications for the information professional on at least three levels:
• Firstly, the information professional works with all four categories of personal and private information. For example, the information that is gained from a reference interview can relate to all four categories of private information. Information professionals working in medical libraries do have increased responsibility in the handling of person-related medical information.
• Secondly, increasing use is made of technology in the processing thereof. This is especially applicable to more technological oriented information occupations such as the information coordinator who, according to Rosen (1993, p.47), concentrates on the handling of electronic information on behalf of an end-user. This includes professional activities such as networking and outsourcing where the information coordinator
10 acts as a link between the end-user and external information providers. In these processes personal and private information of end-users are being handled.• Lastly, a new profession is emerging in the infopreneur whose main line of business may be the buying and selling of person-related and other private information. In her introductory remarks to her book Who owns information, Branscomb (1995, p.5) correctly states that "...the information society has produced a rich marketplace of new information products, and the ease of entry into the new marketplace attracts a large number of small entrepreneurs who depend for their livelihood upon access to these new information resources".
4.2. The Main Ethical Issues
In the handling and processing of the various categories of private and personal information the information professional is confronted with the following ethical issues:
• Deciding which categories of personal and private information the information professional is entitled to gather. This question is of utmost importance to infopreneurs who might decide to base an information business on the selling of individuals' personal information.
• The confidential treatment of such information. This issue refers specifically to information gained during the reference interview. According to Froehlich (1994), Smith (1994) and Shaver et al. (1985), the main ethical problems in this regard (with specific reference to online searching) are as follows: can personal details, obtained from the reference interview, be used for purposes other than that for which it was specifically gathered, is it ethically correct to re-use a search strategy formulated in consultation with one user for another user, and is it appropriate to discuss the nature of a specific query with a third party?
• The accuracy of information. This issue is of specific importance in cases where an information professional is working with personal information which can have a direct influence on the life of a person. An example is the processing and use of a person's financial information on which decisions are based, which can directly influence the quality of a person's life such as the granting or disapproval of a loan.
• The purposes for which various categories of information may be used. The question here is whether an information professional may use any of the four categories of private information for any other reason than the original reason given for the gathering thereof. Is it, for example, appropriate for an information professional to use personal information gained from an interview for statistical reasons? Relating to this is the question whether the person must be notified about the way in which personal information is going to be used.
• The rights of a person in terms of the use and distribution of one's personal and private information. This ethical problem relates to the above-mentioned aspects and boils down to the question of consent of the user in terms of the use of personal information. Related questions are as follows: does a user have the right to verify any personal and private information that is being held by an information professional, and, if so, what are such person's rights regarding the correction (in cases of the incorrectness thereof) of this information, and, does the person have the right to know who is using that private information and for what purposes?
• The gaining of access to and use of a person's private and personal information without the person being aware of it. This is a growing concern because technology opens these possibilities, for example, the reading of E-mail messages and the possibility to know who, and for how long and where a person has surfed the Internet. Information professionals working as LAN-administrators are not only tempted to do this, but are most of the time legally protected. This creates a situation where a person does not know who knows what about him.
5. APPLICABLE ETHICAL NORMS
In the search for applicable ethical norms which can act as guidelines for the information professional to address these ethical issues it is important to summarize what has been discussed up to now:
• Derived from the concept privacy, it is clear that privacy can be regarded as a basic human right.
• The individual is autonomous and may therefore determine the extent of privacy which he requires.
• There is right of freedom of choice to freely exercise this right to privacy as well as freedom from intrusion to this right.
• This right to privacy is not absolute but is restricted by other individual rights.
Based on these closing remarks the following norms can be distinguished: freedom, truth and human rights. These will be discussed briefly:
• Freedom: The two main exponents who largely influenced the Western view of freedom were the French philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the British liberalist John Locke. Both saw freedom as a basic inalienable natural right (we are all born free and equal) which must be, according to them, regarded as one of the highest values of the individual. Freedom is, in philosophical terms, explained in a twofold manner, namely as formal and material freedom. Formal freedom implies that a person has the freedom to choose whereas material freedom relates to the content of the choice that has been made. Material freedom can further be sub-divided into two categories, namely freedom from and freedom to. Freedom from emphasizes the negative aspect of freedom and is, for example, expressed as freedom from intrusion by the government on the private lives of its citizens. Freedom to on the other hand is the positive expression of material freedom and can - in terms of the above mentioned example - be formulated as the right to be private. This right to freedom has both an individual as well as a social dimension. The right of an individual to be private finds expression within the framework of a specific social context. The right of freedom to choose to be private is therefore delimited by the freedom of other individuals in society. The freedom to be private is furthermore restricted by the government (and other large corporations) to gather - with certain restrictions - personal information of individuals. An appropriate example is the right of a government to gather personal information for census purposes.
• Truth: In the Shorter English Dictionary truth is described as "conformity with facts, agreement with reality". Based on this definition it can therefore be seen as an important norm for information related occupations (such as librarians, journalists and information managers) with regard to the content of the information that is handled. This is of specific relevance to the accurate handling of personal and other private information. Truth as a norm is, however, not only applicable to the content of information, but can also be seen as a important virtue (as was already emphasized by Aristotele) which are expressed through concepts such as honesty, reliability, trustworthiness and openess. As such it is of importance to the information professional with regard to the way in which personal and private information is being gathered and used.
• Human rights. Human rights can be seen as a more concretely applicable norm. As is the case with freedom, human rights are seen as an inalienable natural rights which the state has an obligation to protect. Human rights are furthermore formulated within the context of basic human needs, and a variety of human rights can therefore be distinguished. The following information related human rights exist:
- The right to privacy - with regard to all four categories of information
- The right to know the truth. This relates to the right of a person to have access to personal information to verify the correctness thereof.
- The right to freedom of expression and intellectual freedom.
- The right to intellectual property (property rights).
- The right of access to information
12.These rights are however not absolute and can furthermore prioritized. Often a person's right to life would for example enjoy a higher priority than a right to privacy. Kluge (1994, p.340) refers in this regard to the release of the medical history of the victim of a car accident (which can be regarded as personal information) without that persons consent (because the person is not able to give
consent) to enable a doctor to perform the necessary emergency procedures.
6. ETHICAL GUIDELINES FOR THE INFORMATION
PROFESSIONAL
6.1. Two Fundamental Aspects to Bear in Mind
Based on these norms, practical guidelines for the information professional can be formulated. Before formulating of these guidelines, two fundamental aspects must be taken into consideration, namely the recognition of a persons' autonomy and freedom as well as the fact that the legal guidelines on privacy do not offer a complete framework for the ethical actions of the information professional with regard to the handling of personal and private information.
The concepts of autonomy and freedom have already been dealt with. With regard to the juridical guidelines the following comments can be made. Firstly, once a person's private or personal information has been made known publicly such information is no longer, according to the law, viewed as private. This implies that the information can legally be dealt in as trade information. There is, therefore, (from a juridical perspective) no need for ethical sensitivity with regard to the autonomy and freedom of the individual as far as such person's right to privacy is concerned. The second remark relates to the content of legislation itself. As indicated, the immense growth in and development of information technology gives rise to the fact that the legislators fall behind in the tabling of appropriate legislation on the protection of personal privacy. This is especially true in the South African situation where there is, for example, no legislation on the protection of privacy to provide for information handled via E-mail.
6.2. Practical Guidelines
Bearing in mind these two aspects the following practical guidelines can be given (the appropriate norms are also given):
• As an acknowledgment of the autonomy and freedom of the individual the information professional must act on the assumption that the client regards as confidential all personal and private information that is handled by the information professional. This implies that the information professional acknowledges the right of the client to control to a certain extent any personal and private information
13 - based on the norm of freedom.• The client must, on a regular basis have access to all private and personal information that is held and used by the information professional. The reason for this is to provide the client the opportunity to verify the accuracy of the information. It is then the responsibility of the information professional to see to it that the necessary corrections are made and again verified by the client (Fouty, 1993, p.290) - based on the norms of freedom and human rights.
• The merging of personal and other private information of an individual into a different database than the one for which it was originally collected must be done with the necessary caution (Schattuck, 1995, p.310). This is specifically applicable in situations where the client is not aware of such merging or the implications thereof. The appropriate action would not only be to inform the client about such a merging and the implications thereof, but also to give the client the right of access to the information on the central database (and the opportunity to correct the information where it is incorrect), and the right to know who is using the information as well as the purpose of such use - based on the norms of human rights, freedom and truth.
• The information professional must notify the client explicitly of the intended purposes
14 of the use of all personal and private information. This implies the client's permission. Different avenues exist for seeking such permission. Spinello (1995, p.122) prefers the method of implicit informed consent. According to this principle, companies (information professionals) that have collected information about a person must diligently inform that person about the various uses of the information. Clients must then be given an opportunity to consent to these uses or to withhold their consent. The burden is on the client to respond, and a lack of response implies consent. However, the client must be granted the opportunity to withdraw consent (Amidon, 1992, p.67) - based on the norms of freedom and human rights.• No private information must be gathered without a specific reason. This is not only for logistic reasons but also to prevent the unnecessary violation or exposure of a person's privacy - based on the norm of freedom.
• Personal and other private information that is no longer necessary for the function for which it was collected must be destroyed (Branscomb, 1995, p.71) - based on the norms of freedom and human rights.
• When the rendering of a specific service or product to a person is refused on the grounds of personal information (e.g. creditworthiness), the reason for this denial must be made known to the person
15 - based on the norms of truth and human rights.• A person's private information must be handled with the necessary confidentiality. This implies security and control of access to the information, of the right to use it, as well as the right to change or add any information (Fouty, 1993, p.290) - based on the norms of freedom, truth and human rights.
• A privacy policy must be formulated consisting of the following elements:
the categories of infor-mation that must be regarded as private and personal, the levels of confidentiality (e.g.. who has access and use of which information), a clear explanation of the purposes of the use of the information, and the description of the pro-cedures to ensure the accuracy of this infor-mation - based on the norms of freedom, truth and human rights.
6.3. Variables to be Taken into Consideration
It must however be borne in mind that the application of the various ethical guidelines cannot be implemented rigidly as they are not static. A number of variables co-determines the way one will apply these guidelines. Apart from the normal ethical considerations such as the situation/context (because no two contexts or situations are exactly the same) and the motive for as well as the consequences of the ethical action, the information professional must also take into account the following two considerations:
• The category of private information which is at hand. Confidential medical information (privacy of the body) of a person which, when made public, can harm a person
• The category of user. This variable is especially relevant in situations where the information professional realizes that the handling of private and personal information might lead to the protection of a criminal. This normally relates to information obtained from a reference interview (private communication). In this case the information professional must ensure that the relevant information is correct and also bear in mind that the intention to commit a crime is not equal to a crime itself
17. Furthermore, the releasing of the relevant private and personal information of a suspected criminal must be done in an appropriate manner. It must, for example, not be made known to the mass media, but to the appropriate authorities (be it the police or head of the information service), and the formulation must be factual and not in the form of an accusation.
7. CONCLUSIONS
It can be concluded that the use of technology in the processing of information, poses important ethical questions with regard to a person's right to privacy. This right is directly linked to the right to freedom and human autonomy. These problems relate mainly to the accessibility of private information, the manipulation thereof, and the quality of the information.
The specific ethical relevance to the information professional does not only stem from the fact that technology is used in the processing of private information, but also from the fact that private information is increasingly becoming one of the major categories of information to be handled by the information professional. Taking into consideration the right of an individual to privacy, practical guidelines, based on the norms of freedom, truth and human rights can be formulated in dealing with the various ethical problems encountered by the information professional.
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