Date: Sat, 14 Nov 92 15:13:29 EST Errors-To: Comp-privacy Error Handler From: Computer Privacy Digest Moderator To: Comp-privacy@PICA.ARMY.MIL Subject: Computer Privacy Digest V1#099 Computer Privacy Digest Sat, 14 Nov 92 Volume 1 : Issue: 099 Today's Topics: Moderator: Dennis G. Rears Proposal of Paper for _Comp Priv Digest_ Cellular misinformation Va. Hearing on SSNs Re: Risks Of Cellular Speech Re: Risks of Cellular Speech Re: ssn and traffic tickets Privacy map PHD PROGRAM: SOCIAL ASPECTS OF COMPUTING The Computer Privacy Digest is a forum for discussion on the effect of technology on privacy. The digest is moderated and gatewayed into the USENET newsgroup comp.society.privacy (Moderated). Submissions should be sent to comp-privacy@pica.army.mil and administrative requests to comp-privacy-request@pica.army.mil. Back issues are available via anonymous ftp on ftp.pica.army.mil [129.139.160.200]. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- From: jbcondat@attmail.com Date: 31 Dec 69 23:59:59 GMT Subject: Proposal of Paper for _Comp Priv Digest_ REQUEST OF OPINION Could you please help me and give me your opinion related to the following article that you can find in reprint form? The 20 first answer with physical address to *jbcondat@attmail.com* will receive a free copy of the book _C'est decide! J'ecris mon virus_. Regards, jbc -- Jean-Bernard CONDAT (General Secretary)------Chaos Computer Club France [CCCF] B.P. 8005, 69351 Lyon Cedex 08// France //43 rue des Rosiers, 93400 Saint-Ouen Phone: +33 1 40101775, Fax.: +33 1 40101764, Hacker's BBS (8x): +33 1 40102223 ============================================================================== From "Intelligence Newsletter", No. 202 (Oct. 8, 1992), Page 5, by O. Schimdt MAKING THE NEWS AND BOOKSTANDS The computer virus "threat" is back in the news with a new study by IBM specialist Jeffrey O. Kephart and on the bookstands with a French do-it- yourself build-your-own manual on viruses. According to Kephart of IBM's High Integrity Computing Laboratory, most previous theories on the "social structure of computer use and networks were faulty": not every machine could make contact with every other machine in one, two or three "steps". Most individual computers are not connected to others systems but only to their nearest neighbors. Therefore, most infections take place not through networks, but through the physical exchange of disks. Moreover, many of the 1,500 known viruses are not good replicators and many are not destructive. Even the remaining good replicators are "almost all defeated by normal anti-virus programs." To advance knowledge such as this concerning viruses, *Chaos Computer Club France* (CCCF) has decided to publish the French trans- lation of "The Black Book of Computer Virus" by Mark Ludwig "which was censored in the U.S." (French title, "C'est decide! J'ecris mon virus," Editions Eyrolles). [...] The book contains "computer codes for writing your own virus," but according to CCCF any such virus can be defeated by normal anti-virus programs. Moreover, there is no French law forbidding the publi- cation of virus computer codes. The book is intended for "responsible adults" and bears the warning "Forbidden for readers not 18 years old". ============================================================================== ------------------------------ Return-Path: Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 19:12:00 -0500 From: Monty Solomon Subject: Cellular misinformation Excerpt from RISKS DIGEST 14.03 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 14:58:48 EST From: "Barry C. Nelson" Subject: Cellular misinformation The Boston Globe, 9 Nov 1992, had a human interest story illustrating some good uses for the ubiquitous cellular phones. In many places you can dial *SP for the State Police, and this had been credited with getting rapid assistance to accident and crime victims, as well as apprehending a dangerous escapee. They mentioned problems with routing 911 calls. What I found more interesting was a discussion about the Coast Guard preparing to adopt *CG as a maritime cellular distress number. A local official was quoted as saying that the existing broadcast channels will remain in operation because anyone nearby will hear you and the CG operates Direction Finding stations to pinpoint your location. Okay... But then he went on to say that cellular calls "only give you a point to point channel", leading one to the wrong belief that they couldn't DF a cellular user, and that nobody else could listen if they wanted to. -BCNelson P.S.: After a PGN talk at MIT recently, someone in the audience claimed that the FBI has multiple "trunks" attached to the local cellular hub in Boston and they can monitor both sides of a conversation by just typing in your number. Thank goodness that this is a democracy. :-^ ------------------------------ ------------------------------ Organization: CPSR, Washington Office From: Dave Banisar Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 9:29:42 EDT Subject: Va. Hearing on SSNs Va. Hearing on SSNs An ad hoc committee of the Virginia General Assembly met November 10 and agreed to draft legislation that will remove the SSN off the face of the Va. drivers license and from voting records. The Special Joint Subcommittee Studying State and Commerical use of Social Security Numbers for Transaction Identification met for 3 hours and heard witnesses from government, industry and public interest groups. It appears that the draft will require the DMV and the Election Board to continue to collect the information, but will no longer make it publicly available. It was also agreed that the committee would look into greater enforcement of Va. privacy laws, including the feasibility of setting up a data commissioner. All of the legislators in attendance agreed that using the SSN on the face of the driver's license caused problems for both fraud and privacy. The DMV representative admitted that it would cost a minimum amount of money to modify their new computer system, which they have not completed installing yet, to use another numbering system. She estimated that this would take 3-7 years using the renewal process to change all the licenses. She estimated a cost of $8 million for an immediate change due to mailing costs. Bob Stratton of Intercon Systems explained the inherent flaws in using the SSN as an identifier and offered alternatives such as the SOUNDEX system used by Maryland and New York as a better alternative for licenses. A representative of the Va. State Police admitted that they do not use the SSN to identify persons in their records because it was "inherently inaccurate" and described cases of criminals with up to 50 different SSNs. Dave Banisar of CPSR Washington Office explained how the SSN facilitates computer matching and offered options for the board to consider to improve protection of personal privacy. Mikki Barry of Intercon Systems described how any attorney in Virginia has access to the DMV database to examine all records via a computer network. ------------------------------ From: Ken Beal Subject: Re: Risks Of Cellular Speech Date: 11 Nov 1992 14:24:30 GMT Organization: Harris CSD, Ft. Lauderdale, FL Distribution: ssd In article , "Tom R. Rice" writes: |> BTW, a scanner is not really necessary. The older TV sets |> that have UHF tuners of the continuously-tuned type (rather |> than the channel-switch type) can easily tune in cellular |> calls. |> Tom R. Rice WB6BYH Holler Observatory - |> tomrice@netcom.com Longitude: 121 d 30 m 20 s W |> CIS: 71160,1122 Latitude: 37 d 25 m 10 s N |> How do you do this? I've heard it discussed on the RISKS newsgroup recently, and I THINK my UHF tuner works this way, but a) what channels are the signals near, and b) how difficult is it to tune in? aTdHvAaNnKcSe -- Kenneth L. Beal, Jr. kbeal@amber.ssd.csd.harris.com "I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous!" - MST3k "Street person my responsibility." - Indigo Girls The opinions expressed above are true. The preceding sentence is false. ------------------------------ From: Esther Lumsdon Subject: Re: Risks of Cellular Speech Organization: Verdix Corp Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 22:22:13 GMT Apparently-To: uunet!comp-society-privacy As long as we're quoting from fiction, cellular phones are used as a great plot device in Tom Clancy's _Clear and Present Danger_. -- -- Esther Lumsdon, not speaking for Verdix. esther%verdix.com@uunet.uu.net ------------------------------ From: peterson@CS.ColoState.EDU (james peterson) Subject: Re: ssn and traffic tickets Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 16:10:53 GMT In article news@cbnewsh.att.com writes: > >Of course, once they've got your number, they're unlikely to lose it, >so you've got to protect it from the beginning. >-- This reminds me that two weeks ago I went to the County Clerk's Office to vote early (a new deal in Colorado) -- when I sat down to have them verify my registration they looked me up on their computer. I noticed that they had me indexed by my social security number, though I couldn't recall ever providing it. When I asked about it they said I "must have" given it to them when I first registered some years ago. I said something about not giving it out easily, though I allowed as how I might have slipped. The clerk then asked me if I would like to get rid of it. I said yes, and was able to watch as she deleted the social security number as a key, and had the computer select a new unique key. From what I saw, I would judge that my SS# is now gone from their system. Now that's cooperation. -- james lee peterson peterson@CS.ColoState.edu dept. of computer science colorado state university "Some ignorance is invincible." ft. collins, colorado (voice:303/491-7137; fax:303/491-6639) ------------------------------ From: Chris Nelson Subject: Privacy map Organization: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 18:00:34 GMT Apparently-To: comp-society-privacy@cis.ohio-state.edu From time to time, Playboy publishes a color-coded map which shows which states are most likey to try to invade the privacy of your bedroom and want to arrest you for doing something "unnatural" to or with a consenting partner. Various messages here on c.s.p have made references to "California has a law...", etc. and it prompts me to wonder if anyone has put together a privacy map. E.g., in which states are you expected or requiered to give you SSN to be allowed to operate an automobile on public highways. Presumably, some states are facist and some are considerate of your privacy. I'd be insterested in knowing which is which. Chris [Moderator's Note: Has anyone out there know of a source? WOuld anyone be willing to compile one? ._dennis ] -- ------------------------------+------------------------------------------ Chris Nelson | Rens-se-LEER is a county. Internet: nelsonc@cs.rpi.edu | RENS-se-ler is a city. CompuServe: 70441,3321 | R-P-I is a school in Troy! ------------------------------ From: Rob Kling Subject: PHD PROGRAM: SOCIAL ASPECTS OF COMPUTING Date: 12 Nov 92 05:12:28 GMT COMPUTING, ORGANIZATIONS, POLICY AND SOCIETY at the UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, IRVINE C O R P S Our CORPS PhD concentration provides a fascinating opportunity to study a vital topic: the social aspects of computerization. We encourage reflective inquiry, lively discussions, and avoiding the hype that often surrounds new technologies. The computerization of society is taking place at dizzying speed. Almost every week we're bombarded with information about new computer technologies, and predictions about their influence on emerging social changes. But the real social choices and consequences of computerization aren't really well understood. Public, professional and even many scholarly discussions of alternative ways to computerize are often oversimplified. These are important issues and discussion is being advanced through high quality university-based research. We offer a PhD concentration in the Department of Information and Computer Science (ICS) for people who would like to do systematic research and/or teaching about the social aspects of computerization in their careers. CORPS faculty and students work together across departmental boundaries on specific research projects and seminars with faculty in other schools at UC-Irvine. The CORPS faculty has published many books and articles in this area since the early 1970s. The CORPS concentrations focus upon related areas of inquiry: 1. Developing strategies for designing computer-based systems so that they best enhance the performance of groups and organizations; 2. Understanding the processes and social consequences of computerization within organizations and in society. 3. Understanding the work and organizational worlds where people design, develop, market, distribute, implement, and sustain computerized systems. 4. Evaluating strategies for managing the implementation and use of computer-based technologies. 5. Evaluating and proposing public policies which encourage the development and use of computing in pro-social ways. CORPS studies of these questions have examined many kinds of computerized systems. They include complex information systems, computer-based modeling, decision-support systems, office automation, electronic funds transfer systems, expert systems, instructional computing, personal computers, groupware, computer supported manufacturing and computing at home. Most of these studies are done in the U.S. But CORPS faculty have also collaborated in studies in Europe and the Pacific Rim countries. The central questions vary from study to study. They have included questions about the effects of computerized technologies, ways to manage them, the social choices that computing opens up or closes off, the kind of social and cultural life that develops around computing, their political consequences, and their social carrying costs. CORPS studies at Irvine have a distinctive orientation: 1. focusing on both public and private sectors, 2. examining computerization in public life and homelife as well as within organizations, 3. examining computer-based technologies ``in vivo" in typical settings, 4. employing theories and methods drawn from the social sciences, and 5. encouraging critical inquiry while avoiding utopian and anti-utopian positions. CORPS Faculty The primary faculty in the CORPS concentration hold appointments in the Department of Information and Computer Science and the Graduate School of Management. Additional faculty in the Department of History, the School of Social Sciences, and the Program on Social Ecology, have collaborated in research or have taught key courses for students in the CORPS concentration. The Public Policy Research Organization, an interdisciplinary research institute at UCI, administers the CORPS research projects. The CORPS faculty are recognized nationally and internationally for their scholarship about computerization in organizations and public life. The faculty have published numerous books and articles about these topics during the last 20 years. In addition, they regularly give talks at major conferences about the sociology and management of computing and also serve on the editorial boards of several major journals. Mark Ackerman (Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology) -- Assistant Professor of ICS. Design of systems for experts in large organizations; social worlds of software developers. J. Yannis Bakos (Ph.D. Massachusetts Institute of Technology) -- Assistant Professor of Management;Economic impacts of information technology; Strategic Information Systems; Corporate Information System Architectures James Danziger (Ph.D. Stanford University) -- Professor of Political Science; Politics of Computing; Computerization and Changes in Work; Computing in the Social Sciences Julian Feldman (Ph.D. Carnegie Institute of Technology) -- Professor Emeritus of Information and Computer Science; Management of Computing Resources Jonathan Grudin (PhD University of California, San Diego). -- Assistant Professor of Information and Computer Science; Computer Supported Cooperative Work; Social Strategies for System Development; Human-Computer Interaction Vijay Gurbaxani (Ph.D. University of Rochester) -- Associate Professor of Management; Economics of Information Systems Management; Information Systems Investment Strategies; Performance Measurement of Information System Organizations; Organizational Implications of Information Technology John King (Ph.D. University of California, Irvine) -- Professor of Information and Computer Science and Management; Management and Economics of Computing; Social and Organizational Impacts of Computing; National Policies about Computerization Rob Kling (Ph.D. Stanford University) -- Professor of Information and Computer Science and Management; Social and Organizational Impacts of Computing; Computing and Public Policy; Computerization and Social Theory; Computerization and Utopian Thought; Management of Information Systems and New Workplace Technologies Kenneth Kraemer (Ph.D. University of Southern California) -- Professor of Administration and Information and Computer Science; Director, Public Policy Research Organization; National Computer Policy; Investment and Procurement Policy; Management of Computing; Organizational Impacts of Computing; Use of Computers in Policy Making Mark Poster (Ph.D. New York University) -- Professor of History; Director - Critical Theory Institute; Postmodernism; Mode of Information; Poststructuralist European Intellectual Movements Alladi Venkatesh (Ph.D. Syracuse University) -- Associate Professor of Administration; Information Technology and the Consumer; Philosophy of Science Perspectives; Sociology of Consumption Nicholas Vitalari (Ph.D. University of Minnesota) -- Associate Professor of Administration and Information and Computer Science; Home Computing; Decision Support Systems; Systems Analysis Organizational Arrangements for CORPS The CORPS concentration is a special track within the PhD program the Department of Information and Computer Science. The ICS faculty evaluates CORPS applicants with the similar criteria to those they use for their other PhD students. CORPS students need strong quantitative and verbal skills. In addition, some prior study of the social sciences is recommended. This concentration is particularly appropriate for students with strong scientific or technical backgrounds who wish to expand their horizons and skills by studying issues of computerization from a social scientific perspective. The program provides an superb opportunity for students with scientific or technical backgrounds to leverage their educations into a new and vital areas. CORPS is a full-time residential PhD program. Financial support is available in the form of teaching assistantships, research assistantships and Regents fellowships for truly outstanding students. CORPS faculty conduct their research through the Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations (CRITO). CRITO provides key office space and support for research seminars. In addition to CORPS, the ICS Department has research groups in the areas of artificial intelligence, computer systems design, parallel processing, software, computer networks and distributed systems, algorithms and data structures. ICS faculty emphasize traditional computer science as well as research in emerging areas of the discipline, with effective interdisciplinary collaborative ties to colleagues in neurobiology, cognitive science, management, engineering, and the social sciences. ICS currently has 29 full-time faculty positions and more than 110 Ph.D. students, including CORPS. The department is well endowed with computing equipment and networks, including multiprocessor Sequents, and networked workstations. Access is available to all major national and international networks. UC Irvine is located in Orange County, three miles from the Pacific Ocean adjacent to Newport Beach, and approximately forty miles south of Los Angeles. It is within easy drives of 10,000 foot mountains, vast deserts, and beautiful Pacific beaches. The campus is situated in the heart of a national center of high-technology enterprise. The Irvine campus also houses the Western Regional offices of the National Academy of Sciences and National Academy of Engineering. Both the campus and the enterprise area are growing rapidly and offer exciting professional opportunities. The Irvine are offers substantial cultural opportunities in music, the arts and theater. Please write for additional information to: Professor Rob Kling Department of Information and Computer Science University of California - Irvine Irvine, CA 92717 Kling@ics.uci.edu 11/10/92. ------------------------------ End of Computer Privacy Digest V1 #099 ******************************