Privacy Issues:
Measuring Privacy: Using Context to Expose Confounding Variables
Past privacy surveys often omit important contextual factors and yield cloudy, potentially misleading results about how people understand and value privacy. We revisit two historically influential measurements of privacy that have shaped discussion about public views and sentiments as well as practices and policies surrounding privacy: (1) Alan Westin’s series of surveys establishing that people in their valuations of privacy persistently fall into three categories: fundamentalists, pragmatists, and unconcerned and (2) Pew Foundation’s survey of individuals’ ratings of ‘sensitive’ information. We find, first, the relative importance of types of sensitive information on meeting privacy expectations is highly dependent on the contextual actor receiving the information as well as the use of information. Respondents differentiate between contextual, appropriate use of information and the commercial use of information. Second, Westin’s privacy categories were a relatively unimportant factor in judging privacy violations of different scenarios. Even privacy unconcerned respondents rated the vignettes to not meet privacy expectations on average, and respondents across categories had a common vision of what constitutes a privacy violation. While groups differed slightly, contextual factors explained the tremendous variation within Westin’s groups. In sum, respondents were highly nuanced in their judgments about information by taking into consideration the context, actor, and use as well as the type of information. In addition, respondents had common concerns about privacy across Westin’s privacy categories. Significant for public policy we demonstrate that teasing out confounding variables, reveals significant commonality across respondents in their privacy expectations. For firms, our work reveals that respondents’ judgments of privacy violation are highly sensitive to how the information is shared and used after disclosure.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2709584.
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Digital History:
Wikipedia fails as an encyclopedia, to science’s detriment
For all its flaws, Wikipedia is an amazing resource. Despite the vandalism, edit wars, and arguments over what constitutes a point of view, it provides key information about a dizzying variety of topics. I’ve relied on them for a lot of information. Most entries have the basics—who, what, when, where, and why—and a long list of references if going beyond the basics is required. Most entries, but not all. Disturbingly, all of the worst entries I have ever read have been in the sciences. Wander off the big ideas in the sciences, and you’re likely to run into entries that are excessively technical and provide almost no context, making them effectively incomprehensible.
This failure is a minor problem for Wikipedia, as most of the entries people rely on are fine. But I’d argue that it’s a significant problem for science. The problematic entries reinforce the popular impression that science is impossible to understand and isn’t for most people—they make science seem elitist. And that’s an impression that we as a society really can’t afford. One problem with all of these [scientific entries] is that they’re structured in a way that requires you to already have advanced knowledge of a topic in order to understand nearly anything on the page. In other words, they’re probably only useful for people who would never have to read them anyway.
http://arstechnica.com/staff/2015/12/editorial-wikipedia-fails-as-an-encyclopedia-to-sciences-detriment/.
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Internet Access:
Lack of broadband can be a key obstacle, especially for job seekers
People without broadband at home can face substantial challenges navigating key life events, with difficulties looking for work or applying for a job among the most prominent. Despite a number of state and federal initiatives promoting increased broadband adoption, a significant share of U.S. adults (33%) say that they still do not subscribe to high-speed internet service. Pew Research Center surveys have found that Americans view trouble in finding work or advancing one’s career as the most significant impediment facing those without broadband. Some 52% of Americans believe that those without broadband service at home are at a “major disadvantage” when it comes to finding out about job opportunities or gaining new career skills. Those who rely on mobile devices for online access face job-seeking challenges, ranging from data caps on a smartphone plan to attempting to craft a resume or apply for a job on a device that was not built for extensive text entry.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/12/28/lack-of-broadband-can-be-a-key-obstacle-especially-for-job-seekers/.
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Open Data:
EITI Report Shows Impact of Resource Extraction on Taxpayers
For the first time, U.S. residents will have access to data that documents how much individual companies are paying for the extraction of natural resources from public lands, as well as a more accurate picture of job creation and economic impact in the 18 states with the most drilling and mining activity in the U.S. The data, much of it previously unavailable to the public or scattered among dozens of different agencies, is part of a groundbreaking report (PDF) released this morning by the U.S. Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (USEITI), a federal advisory committee created three years ago to help bring the United States in line with international standards. The committee comprises industry, government, and civil society representatives. POGO’s executive director, Danielle Brian, serves as chair of the civil society sector, representing the interests of taxpayers, labor unions, environmental organizations, tribal communities, academics, and other non-governmental stakeholders. The new information in the report includes the amount of royalties paid by companies for extracting oil, gas, and coal from federal lands, production volumes of natural resources being extracted on an annual basis, the impact of tax breaks and other subsidies, and details about the fiscal impact on featured communities. Users can access the USEITI report via a new website, which includes interactive and downloadable data that allows the public to take a deep dive into the information.
http://www.pogo.org/blog/2015/12/eiti-report-shows-impact-of-resource-extraction-on-taxpayers.html>
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Open Access:
Harvard Launches “Free the Law” Digitization Project
It took Harvard Law School (HLS) nearly 200 years, since its founding in 1817, to amass its collection of United States case law reporters – one of the world’s largest collections of legal materials. It will take the HLS Library about three years to scan and digitize that collection and, in partnership with legal technology startup Ravel Law, make it freely available to the public online. If all goes according to plan, by early to mid–2017, the “Free the Law” project will have digitized the “official print versions of all historical U.S. court decisions,” according to the HLS Library blog. This will encompass the contents of 40,000 books—approximately 40 million pages of law—with publication dates from the 1700s to the present day.
http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2015/12/oa/harvard-launches-free-the-law-digitization-project.
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Public Policy:
Diversity, Inclusion, and Equal Opportunity in the Armed Services: Background and Issues for Congress
Diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity are three terms that are often used interchangeably; however, there are some differences in how they are interpreted and applied between the Department of Defense (DOD) and civilian organizations. DOD’s definitions of diversity and equal opportunity have changed over time, as have its policies toward inclusion of various demographic groups. These changes have often paralleled social and legal change in the civilian sector. The gradual integration of previously excluded groups into the military has been ongoing since the 19th century. However, in the past few decades there have been rapid changes to certain laws and policies regarding diversity, inclusion, and equal opportunity in the Armed Forces. Since 2009, DOD policy changes and congressional actions have allowed individuals who are gay to serve openly and recognized their same-sex spouses as dependents for the purpose of military benefits, opened all combat assignments to women, and initiated a review of existing policies prohibiting transgender servicemembers.
Military manpower requirements derive from National Military Strategy and are determined by the military services based on the workload required to deliver essential capabilities. Some argue that to effectively deliver these capabilities a workforce with a range of backgrounds, skills and knowledge is required. In this regard, DOD’s pursuit of diversity is one means to acquire those necessary capabilities by broadening the potential pool of high-quality recruits and ensuring equal opportunities for advancement and promotion for qualified individuals throughout a military career. DOD has used diversity and equal opportunity programs and policies to encourage the recruitment, retention, and promotion of a diverse force that is representative of the nation.
https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/R44321.pdf.
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Intellectual Property:
Stupid Patent of the Month: Microsoft’s Design Patent on a Slider
For the first time ever, this month’s Stupid Patent of the Month is being awarded to a design patent. Microsoft recently sued Corel for, among other things, infringing its patent on a slider, D554,140, claiming that Corel Home Office has infringed Microsoft’s design. The design patent, as detailed by Microsoft in its complaint, is titled “User Interface for a Portion of a Display Screen.” Microsoft’s patent claims against Corel are unsurprising in light of how much money is potentially at stake. If Corel is found to infringe even one of Microsoft’s design patents through even the smallest part of Corel Home Office, current Federal Circuit law entitles Microsoft to all of Corel’s profits for the entire product. Not the profits that can be attributed to the design. Not the value that the design adds to a product. All of the profit from Corel Home Office.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/12/stupid-patent-month-microsofts-design-patent-slider.
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The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association.