As we go to press in the summer of 2003, there is good news in Washington. The United States Senate has voted unanimously to oppose future funding for the Total Information Awareness program, a research program underway at the Department of Defense that sought to eradicate the concept of privacy, as it is generally understood. Although there are still several steps ahead in the legislative process, it is worth noting that broad public opposition combined with strong political leadership has made possible a significant victory for the right of privacy and the rule of constitutional democracy. In the private sector, major retailers around the world have moved away from a proposal to incorporate tracking techniques, such as Radio Frequency Identity Tags, into consumer products. Companies such as Benetton and Wal-Mart have said that questions of costs and benefits still remain unresolved. Here as well there is indication that public concerns about privacy and determined efforts by advocacy groups have made an impact.
Still the good news this summer should not obscure the ongoing challenges to privacy that are being faced by citizens around the world. Perhaps the encroachment that is most clear is the rapid development of biometric identification cards. The cards, which were pushed upon European governments by the United States after September 11, are also being pursued in Japan and may soon be adopted in Canada.
Systems of control are on the rise. Architectures of surveillance without clear purpose are being constructed by governments, in cooperation with private sector, and making use of new technology. Records of communications are monitored, purchases are noted, information about transportation - where one goes, where one stays, and with whom one travel - are recorded with a broader mandate than at any time in the past.
In some cases, government simply goes too far as the United States did with the proposal for Total Information Awareness. The public responds, and the systems are rightly brought to an end. In other cases, governments extend surveillance but allow means of oversight. This appears to be the approach in Japan to the system of national identification. In the most challenging cases, new systems of control, but the public is unaware and there is little opportunity for political action. This is surveillance without accountability, authority without constraint.
As you consider the developments in privacy during the past year, it is worth asking into which of these three categories the news falls. We hope with the publication of this report that fewer developments will end up in this third category where there is simply too little discussion of significant changes.
EPIC Policy Counsel Cédric Laurant edited the 2003 edition of Privacy and Human Rights, building on the earlier work of Simon Davies, David Banisar, and Sarah Andrews. Cédric's commitment to this undertaking, which is a big project under any scenario, is evidenced by the extensive revisions and the almost 3,000 footnotes that provide further information for researchers and policymakers on the topics discussed.
The students participating in the EPIC Internet Public Interest Opportunities Program (IPIOP), national data protection authorities, and more than one hundred experts, scholars, and advocates have all lent their support to this effort. For the 2003 edition we made a particular effort to identify country experts who reviewed the work of researchers and drafted key revisions. We are grateful for their assistance.
One hundred years ago Eric Blair was born. The man who became known as George Orwell and authored 1984 wrote in Politics and the English Language of the importance to present information clearly and directly. It was his hope that this would enable informed political debate and a meaningful public response to the challenge of the day. With the publication of the 2003 edition of the Privacy and Human Rights report, we hope to honor the memory of George Orwell and to continue a debate that remains critical for our future.
Marc Rotenberg
Executive Director
EPIC
July 2003