Write a short paper based on the week 8 discussion that affirms your position using at least 1 source and select one opposing or different view from one of your peers and elaborate on that in this p
Week 8: Privacy_CBenjamin
Calvin Benjamin(Jul 23, 2018 4:36 PM)- Read by: 4
Last Edited By Calvin Benjamin on Jul 25, 2018 9:19 AM
Freedom of Information Act & the Privacy Act.
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), created in 1967, is the law that is focused on information access to federal agencies information (U.S Department of Justice, n.d.). After conducting research on FOIA, personnel can proceed to the website and begin requesting information for the particular government agency that they want information access to as a result of the research conducted. Not all of the information can be sent to requestor’s, so there is a process before information is provided. When the request is received, the particular government agency will search for the record and review it to determine what information can be disclosed (U.S Department of Justice, n.d.). There are nine exemptions to FOIA dissemination. They are: national defense classified information, internal personnel information, information prohibited from disclosure based on other statutes, commercial trade secrets, records exchanged between agencies, individual personnel medical information, law enforcement investigation information, financial institution regulatory information, and geological and geophysical information. These records cannot be disclosed or disseminated to requestors and are established by congress.
President Bush’s Telephone Records and Privacy Act of 2006
The Telephone Records and Privacy Protection Act of 2006 was introduced by Congress in 2006 and signed into law by President George W. Bush in 2007. The law was created to prohibit the obtaining of phone records from service providers (U.S. Congress, 2007). Law enforcement representatives are exempt from this request for investigative purposes. If the records of covered entities are obtained by someone nonexempt, they can be fined and imprisoned for up to 10 years.
Wiretap Act
The Wiretap Act was established to protect individual or entity based communications from being intercepted or recorded by someone (Farkas, 2018). Under this Act, it is illegal to intercept or disclose information on anyone via wire, oral communication, or electronic communication. Violators of the Wiretap Act can be subject to both civil and criminal penalties. There are times when law enforcement officials have to listen in on private communication, which can take place either by direct consent of the person whose activities are being recording, or a court order authorizing the wiretapping activities (Farkas, 2018). So, there are exemptions to the Wiretap Act, but without a court order or consent from the individual, even law enforcement can be violating the law.
Importance of Privacy
Privacy is one of those things about life that should be paramount to the livelihood of each and every human being. Privacy is an individual or entity’s right to be free from evasion and intrusion by others (Johl, 2018). This includes personal information shared to others for legitimate reasons. Each individual have a responsibility for protecting their own information, however, any entities that have a legitimate need for others’ private information has the due diligence to protect it has well. Federal laws are in place to protect private information and are based on the premise that everyone’s personal information is private and must be handled as such (Johl, 2018). In reviewing each of these sites, collectively, privacy laws show the relevancy of information privacy and the right to have it without interruption. In summary, an individual should not have to worry about their information being recorded and intercepted, their telephones records being accessed illegally, and they should be able to obtain information from government sources when they request information that do not fall under one of the exempt clauses.
References:
Farkas, B. (2018). How the wiretap act protects personal privacy. Retrieved from https://www.lawyers.com/legal-info/personal-injury/types-of-personal-injury-claims/wiretap-act-privacy.html.
Johl, R. (2018). Reassessing wiretap and eavesdropping statutes: Making one-party consent the default. Retrieved from http://harvardlpr.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Johl.pdf.
U.S. Congress (2007). H.R.4709 – Telephone records and Privacy Protection Act of 2006. Retrieved from https://www.congress.gov/bill/109th-congress/house-bill/4709.
U.S. Department of Justice, (n.d.). Freedom of information act. Retrieved from https://www.foia.gov/.
Michael Camp(Jul 24, 2018 5:31 AM)- Read by: 3
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Last Edited By Michael Camp on Jul 24, 2018 5:33 AM
The right to privacy in the United States is inferred in the Constitution through the Fourth Amendment, which states that people have the right to be secure in their possessions and free from
search and seizure of their belongings unless probable cause, and a seizure warrant to go with probable cause, exist. But does this extend to the right to have a private conversation? I believe it does, but not specifically. Obviously, the law makers of the world agree, because they have, over a period, enacted a few regulations to clarify our rights to private communications.
The Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act are federal statutes securing the right of people to have access to records in the possession of agencies and departments of the Executive Branch of the government (Homeland Security, 2018). There are a few exemptions to this, a few of them being access to classified information, access to information pertaining to actual or perceived threats to critical infrastructure, law enforcements records (to a degree), trade secrets, and the like. Notably, it also protects information such as Social Security Numbers, home addresses and telephone numbers, and certain identifying information regarding Department employees (Homeland Security, 2018). In addition, the Wiretap Act makes it a federal crime “to wiretap or to use a machine to capture the communications of others without court approval, unless one of the parties has given their prior consent” (Stevens, Doyle, 2003). In turn, it is a federal crime to disclose information obtained by wiretapping or electronic eavesdropping, and the associated penalties include fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment for no more than 5 years. Furthermore, in 2006, Retired President Bush signed the Telephone Records and Privacy Act. This act addressed fraudulent communications by implementing a jail time penalty of up to 10 years for “anyone who pretends to be someone else, or otherwise employs fraudulent tactics, to persuade phone companies to hand over what is supposed to be confidential data about customers' calling habits” (Broache, 2007). At the time this was enacted, Hewlett-Packard had admitted it’s investigators used false pretenses to obtain the phone records of journalists in their efforts to isolate the source of boardroom media leaks; actions such as these are now criminal.
Privacy is a big concern in America, more so in the last 20 years due to the Internet and the ever-increasing connectivity of systems which hold personal data (hospitals, law enforcement, banks, etc.). One resource, Privacy Clearinghouse (https://www.privacyrights.org), offers free education using direct one-to-one assistance, educational publications, and their advocation for consumer-friendly policies (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, 2018). This is an excellent source to learn about privacy related to banking and finance, credit and credit reports, data breaches, health, identity theft, social security numbers, and much more. I am sure that as technology continues to boom, the United States will see even more policy, guidance, and laws enacted to protect it’s citizens.
References
Broache, A. 2007, January 17). President signs pretexting bill into law. Retrieved from https://www.cnet.com/news/president-signs-pretexting-bill-into-law/.
Homeland Security. (2018). Freedom of Information Act & the Privacy Act. Retrieved from https://www.dhs.gov/freedom-information-act-and-privacy-act.
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. (2018). Privacy. Retrieved from https://www.privacyrights.org/
Stevens, G., and Doyle, C. (2003, January 13). Privacy: An Overview of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping. Retrieved from https://epic.org/privacy/wiretap/98-326.pdf.
Erik Grant(Jul 24, 2018 7:50 PM)- Read by: 4
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A right to privacy is one of the foundational rights of a free society. Without the expectation and guarantee of privacy we'd devolve into a meek, fearful society reminiscent of Orwell's 1984. We'd constantly be analyzing every word we write, speak or share. As American's we have several federal acts and other legislation to protect our rights and act as defenses against encroachment by commercial, private or government parties. HR 4709, signed by President Bush, protects our phone records and other types of digital information from being released to private investigators or other actors without the person's consent (Mesis, 2007, para. 3,4,5). This precludes access to personal data from private investigators and other private sector actors and there are exceptions for court warrants and other official investigations.
Likewise, the Wiretap Act, enumerated in 18 U.S. Code § 2511, helps to protect private communications between people (Farkas, 2018, para. 1, 2). Although “Wiretap” is in the title it does not strictly define protected intercepts as only on electronic media; it also protects oral communication as well. It's important to note that the act specifically mentions intentional wiretapping. In order for an incident to qualify as a crime it has to be proven that it was a deliberate act. If an individual was walking by a window and happened to overhear a conversation that would not be classified as a “wiretap”.
In our present society it seems as if privacy is an endangered species; out privacy seems vulnerable from almost everything; Amazon Echo, Google Home, online retailers, and other entities to numerous to mention. Each of us must be as proactive and knowledgeable as we can and take responsibility, as much as possible, for our data and privacy. Yes, there are numerous laws that protect us but if we leave the doors wide open then we really have no recourse when we find our privacy violated.
Farkas, B. (2018). How the Wiretap Act Protects Personal Privacy. Retrieved from https://www.lawyers.com/legal-info/personal-injury/types-of-personal-injury-claims/wiretap-act-privacy.html
Mesis, J. (2007, January 15). President Bush Signs HR 4709 -Telephone Records and Privacy Act of 2006. Retrieved from https://pibuzz.com/president-bush-signs-hr-4709-telephone-records-and-privacy-act-of-2006/
Week 8: Melone - Privacy
Ralph Melone(Jul 25, 2018 11:41 AM)- Read by: 3
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Classmates and Professor Andersson
There is information relevant to a person that is very important to keep private. I think that financial and health information are among the most important. There are constant competing interests in the battle over privacy. And it seems that individuals are losing the battle to those who want the information for either illegal or self-serving interests. According to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, 2018, bookmark. https://www.privacyrights.org/data-breaches) almost 11 billion records have been breached. With the Privacy Act of 1974 (DOJ, 1974), the federal government recognized the importance of managing the individual’s rights in the federal agency area. Protecting a person’s privacy lies not only with the individual but with all those organizations that maintain an individual’s records. Often the right of the individual to maintain privacy over key data are at odds with the desire of companies to perform targeted marketing and the needs of governments to protect its citizens via law enforcement. The Federal Wiretap Law is an example where the fourth amendment rights are protected but there are caveats and mechanisms to allow law enforcement to gain private information through wiretaps and electronic eavesdropping (Doyle, 2003, pp. 7, 25). The Freedom of Information Act takes a positive step in an attempt to protect individual privacy by addressing the use of personal data for means other than its intended use or without a person’s knowledge (Freedom of information act, (2015), para 1-4).
It’s not a surprise that privacy is a main concern of the legal profession and the constituents that drive many of the laws related to privacy at the local, state, and federal level. What is surprising is that computer scientists have been in the vanguard of those seeking ways to protect privacy, partly because they are often the first to recognize privacy problems engendered by new technologies and partly because the solutions themselves are sometimes technological (Shaw, 2009, para. 3-5).
References
DOJ. (1967). The Freedom Of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552
Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/oip/freedom-information-act-5-usc-552
Freedom of information act (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. § 552 (1966) (2015).
DOJ. (1974). The Privacy Act of 1974. Retrieved from https://www.justice.gov/opcl/privacy-act-1974
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. (2018). Retrieved from http://www.privacyrights.org/
Shaw, Jonathan. (2009). The erosion of privacy in the Internet era. Harvard Magazine. Retrieved from https://harvardmagazine.com/2009/09/privacy-erosion-in-internet-era
Stevens, G, Doyle, S. (2003). Privacy: An Overview of Federal Statutes Governing Wiretapping and Electronic Eavesdropping. Congressional Research Service. Retrieved fromhttps://epic.org/privacy/wiretap/98-326.pdf
Ralph
