Privacy and the Government In Class Exercises Review and Discussion Questions Chapter 6 PDF

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Chapter 6 Privacy and the Government In Class Exercises Review and Discussion Questions...

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Ethics for the Information Age By: Michael J. Quinn

Chapter 6: Privacy and the Government

Review Questions 1. What are the four categories in Daniel Solove’s taxonomy of privacy? Come up with your own examples of activities conducted by government agencies falling into each of these categories. 2. How does the Employee Polygraph Protection Act help job applicants and company employees maintain their privacy? What is the most significant loophole in the Employee Polygraph Protection Act? 3. What is the purpose of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act? 4. What are the two principal purposes of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act? 5. Give two examples of the Census Bureau illegally revealing census data to other federal agencies. 6. Name two notable successes claimed by the National Crime Information Center. 7. What is the purpose of the OneDOJ database? What are its weaknesses, according to the critics of this database? 8. Provide an example of overt surveillance by a government agency in the United States. 9. Provide two examples of covert surveillance by the US government. 10. What right is guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution? 11. Why was the US Supreme Court decision in Nardone v. United States so important? 12. What was the key ruling of the US Supreme Court in the case of Weiss v. United States? 13. How did the decision of the US Supreme Court in the case of Katz v. United States change the concept of privacy? 14. How did Operation Shamrock begin? What abuses arose from the continuation of Operation Shamrock? 15. What was the purpose of the Carnivore system? 16. Why did the National Security Agency begin its secret wiretapping program?

17. Why did the TALON database spark controversy? 18. What is a pen register? 19. What is a trap-and-trace device? 20. What is a roving wiretap? 21. What are the implications of the Stored Communications Act for all those who let an Internet service provider handle their email? 22. What are the three most controversial provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act? 23. Why has the expanded use of National Security Letters raised privacy concerns? 24. Briefly summarize in your own words the five tenets of the Code of Fair Information Practices. 25. Robert Bellair has said, “The Privacy Act, it turns out, is no protection at all. You can drive a truck through the Privacy Act”. Explain why Bellair and other privacy advocates feel the Privacy Act of 1974 is a weak piece of legislation. 26. The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires information that may negatively affect an individual’s credit rating to be removed after seven years. What are two exceptions to this guideline? 27. How does the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act help consumers verify the accuracy of their credit reports? 28. Summarize the major provisions of the Financial Services Modernization Act. 29. Give two examples of data-mining programs run by governments. 30. What are the problems with using the Social Security number as an identification number? 31. Give two arguments in favor of a national identification card for the United States. Give two arguments against creating a national identification card. 32. What are the rights provided by the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act? 33. How does the Video Privacy Protection Act enhance privacy? 34. Describe the privacy protections resulting from the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. 35. What is the purpose of the Freedom of Information Act? 36. Name two important exemptions in the Freedom of Information Act that allow the government to withhold information. 37. Give an example of how information gathered by the E-ZPass system has been used for a purpose other than collecting tolls.

38. How did the Federal Trade Commission reduce unwanted telemarketing? 39. What is the purpose of the CALM Act? 40. Why have federal and state governments passed laws limiting access to cold products containing pseudoephedrine? 41. Why have privacy groups objected to the installation of advanced imaging technology scanners at airport security checkpoints? How has the Transportation Security Administration responded to these objections?

Discussion Questions 42. Florida, Missouri, Ohio, and Oklahoma have passed laws that require lifetime monitoring of some convicted sex offenders after they have been released from prison. The offenders must wear electronic ankle bracelets and stay close to small GPS transmitters, which can be carried on a belt or in a purse. Computers monitor the GPS signals and alert law enforcement officials if the offenders venture too close to a school or other off-limits area. Police interested in the whereabouts of a monitored person can see his location, traveling direction, and speed plotted on a map. Do these laws represent an unacceptable weakening of personal privacy, or are they sensible public safety measures? Should they be repealed? Should people convicted of other crimes also be monitored for life? Would there be less crime if everyone in society were monitored? 43. Think about what you do when you get up in the morning. How would you act differently if you knew you were being watched? Would you feel uncomfortable? Do you think you would get used to being watched? 44. Discuss the following responses to the revelation that telecommunications companies provided domestic phone call records to the National Security Agency. President George Bush: “Al-Qaeda is our enemy, and we want to know their plans.” Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont: “Are you telling me tens of millions of Americans are involved with al-Qaeda?” Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona: “We are in a war, and we have got to collect intelligence on the enemy.” Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa: “Why are the telephone companies not protecting their customers? They have a social responsibility to people who do business with them to protect our privacy as long as there isn’t some suspicion that we’re a terrorist or a criminal or something.” 45. When asked about Google releasing personal information to law enforcement agencies, Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt told CNBC: “If you have something that you don’t

want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place”. Discuss Mr. Schmidt’s perspective. 46. Was the US government’s $2 million settlement with Brandon Mayfield reasonable and just? 47. In order to combat the counterfeiting of currency, the US Secret Service convinced several color laser printer manufacturers to add a secret code to every printed page. The code is invisible to the human eye but can be seen under a microscope. When decrypted, it reveals the serial number of the printer and the time and date the page was printed. By agreeing to secretly insert the codes, did the printer manufacturers violate the privacy rights of their customers? 48. What special responsibilities do computer professionals have with respect to understanding and protecting the privacy rights of their fellow citizens?

In-Class Exercises 49. The Code of Fair Information Practices applies only to government databases. Divide the class into two groups to debate the advantages and disadvantages of extending the Code of Fair Information Practices to private databases managed by corporations. 50. A database containing the DNA information of every citizen of a country could be a valuable resource to medical researchers. It could also help police solve crimes. Divide the class into two groups (pro and con) to debate the following proposition: It would be in the best interests of society if the government constructed a DNA database of every resident and made the database available to medical researchers and police agencies. 51. Divide the class into two groups (pro and con) to debate the proposition that every citizen of the United States ought to carry a national identification card. 52. Debate the following proposition: By creating the Threat and Local Observation Notices (TALON) database, which enabled citizens to report on each other’s activities, the US government effectively reduced freedom of speech....