Privacy and Cyberspace - a white paper from the ABA

This paper looks pretty interesting. Covers a lot of current cyberspace issues. TOC is reproduced below.

“Reprinted by permission from Facts About Privacy and Cyberspace. Copyright © 2000 American Bar Association. All rights reserved.”

Introduction

”The Information Highway will transform our culture
as dramatically as Gutenberg’s press did the Middle Ages.”
— BILL GATES

The Internet — the information highway — is indeed revolutionizing our culture.
The new technologies offer great opportunities, but at the same time could threaten
our sense of privacy and basic civil liberties. This factbook serves as primer on basic
questions about privacy in cyberspace. We examine questions raised by the government’s
collection of personal data, the importance of privacy in our culture, children on the
Internet, e-mail privacy in the workplace, and issues surrounding safe shopping online.
This factbook is merely a sampling of some cyberspace privacy issues to help generate
further reflection on how the information highway is changing our lives.

 

 

Here is the table of contents from the paper:

 

Table of Contents

Introduction Page

Sources of Information

Question 1 What information is collected by government agencies? 1
Question 2 Is the information public? 1
Question 3 Are public records available online? 1
Question 4 What other information about people is available online? 2

The Importance of Privacy

Question 5 What can happen if someone’s privacy isn’t protected? 3
Question 6 Why is this a particular problem in cyberspace? 3

Protecting Privacy

Question 7 Are there any laws governing dissemination of information collected 5
by government entities and others?
Question 8 How much privacy can someone expect when they are online? 5
Question 9 What are some clearly public activities? 6
Question 10 Can online services and web sites access information stored on
someone’s computer without their knowledge? 6
Question 11 How can people protect their privacy in cyberspace? 7
Question 12 What is encryption? 7
Question 13 How effective is encryption in ensuring privacy? 8

Children on the Internet

Question 14 How do web sites gather information about children? 9
Question 15 Are there any laws regulating this? 9
Question 16 Can web sites get around the law by gathering information about children 10
from cookies?
Question 17 What special risks do Internet chat rooms pose for children? 10
Question 18 How can parents protect their children online? 11

E-Mail Privacy in the Workplace

Question 19 Is there federal law covering e-mail privacy in the workplace? 12
Question 20 Do state laws offer any protections to e-mail? 12
Question 21 What about common law privacy? 13
Question 22 Is deleted e-mail really gone? 13

Safe Shopping Online

Question 23 What questions should someone ask before making a purchase online? 14
Question 24 Who is the seller? 14
Question 25 What is the product? 15
Question 26 What are the legal terms of the purchase? 15
Question 27 How can privacy be maintained? 15
Question 28 How secure is the transaction? 16
Question 29 How should the item be paid for? 16
Question 30 When can delivery be expected? 16
Question 31 What records should be kept? 17
Question 32 To whom should complaints be made if something goes wrong 18
with an online transaction?

Terms

Question 33 What is privacy? 19
Question 34 What is cyberspace? 19
Question 35 What is the Internet? 19
Question 36 What are online communications? 20
Question 37 What is e-mail? 20
Question 38 What is the World Wide Web? 21
Question 39 What is a newsgroup? 22
Question 40 What is chat? 22
Question 41 What is a cookie? 22