Contact:
Jeannette Boccini
The
Krantz Group, Inc.
(212) 891-7234
(jboccini@krantzgroup.com)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, DC -- April 6, 1999 -- New software and startups that claim to protect privacy are no substitute for legally enforceable rights, according to privacy advocate Jason Catlett, President of Junkbusters Corp. "Hoping that technology alone will protect privacy is like believing in the Wizard of Oz," Catlett said today.
Speaking at the ninth annual conference on Computers, Freedom and Privacy in Washington DC, Catlett drew a distinction between systems that remove identifying information and those that collect it. "Anonymizing technologies really do help protect privacy," he said, singling out Zero Knowledge Systems Inc. for special praise. "ZKS Freedom is a superb example of how harmful ``data exhaust'' can be deliberately engineered out." In contrast, systems designed to collect profiles may actually damage privacy if disclosed improperly, Catlett said. Recent examples of these "negotiated privacy techniques" include P3P and the Open Profiling Standard, Novell's digitalme, and several "infomediary" startups such as Lumeria. "The crucial question is whether the consumer has any recourse if her information is misused," Catlett said. "Americans need real privacy rights. Without them these profiling technologies are largely smoke and mirrors that may later leave consumers coughing and stumbling over broken glass."
The concept of an "infomediary" company that brokers personal profiles for consumers is the topic of a new bestselling book titled Net Worth by John Hagel III and Marc Singer. While acknowledging the book's ground-breaking contribution and insightful analysis, Catlett disputed the book's claim that technology "could prevent the capture of substantially all personal profile and behavioral information without the explicit consent of the customer." (p. 273) According to Catlett, "Junk Mailers know where you live, what kind of car you drive, and thousands of other things about you. Only laws will stop them from keeping those profiles for the rest of your life, and force them to show you the information about you that they are selling without your permission. "
"Net Worth misses the point on privacy rights by 180 degrees," Catlett continued. "Strong, legally enforceable privacy rights would greatly speed the development of the infomediary market, not hinder it. The consumer's consent becomes much more important if there's a downside to using personal information without it. Trying to establish an infomediary in a country where comprehensive data privacy laws have been not yet been passed is as challenging as starting a mining company before mineral rights are enacted." Hagel's view that market forces will be enough to keep companies honest is "like asking the SEC to believe that their regulations are unnecessary because investors won't trade with crooked brokers," Catlett said. "Laws enable an orderly market and give consumers the confidence to participate."
Catlett will chair a session at CFP titled "Privacy and Profiling" between 3:15 and 4:30pm on Wednesday April 7 at the Omni Shoreham Hotel. The panel includes Dr Steven Lucas, founder of infomediary startup Privaseek Inc.
Junkbusters Corp. helps consumers defend themselves against intrusive marketing and protect their privacy online. At http://www.junkbusters.com the company provides extensive free resources for stopping telemarketing calls, unwanted physical mail, junk email, and commercial invasions of privacy on the Internet. Its widely-used free privacy-enhancing software, the Internet Junkbuster Proxy (TM), blocks unwanted cookies and banner ads.
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