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05/17/2004 Archived Entry: ""Getting Naked for Big Brother""

"GETTING NAKED FOR BIG BROTHER." Why Americans seem not to care about privacy and may actually even prefer more invasive technologies. Heck of an interview with Jeffrey Rosen, who's just written a new book on the subject.

Privacy-enhancing technologies are complicated, hard to explain and may protect values that people don't care all that much about protecting. It's like the students of mine who, given the choice between [an airport imaging machine that reveals their sex organs or one that fuzzes out sexual details] prefer the naked machine because it makes them feel safer, even when it's explained to them that it's not. People are very afraid, and they want the promise of silver bullets. Often the complicated design choices that good technologies require make them less emotionally compelling.

Posted by Claire @ 03:53 PM CST
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