Privacy and Intellectual Property Rights Index

... links concerned with privacy, intellectual property rights, copyrights, remedies, fair use, myths, etc.

Table of Contents for this page:

• Preface.

• Privacy and Privacy Rights.
• The 1973 U.S. Code of Fair Information Practices.
• Canadian Standards Association's Ten Fair Information Principles.
• The Province of B.C.'s Fair Information Principles as contained in their Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.
• Links to privacy-related resources.
• See also items - relating to free speech and CDA of 1996.

• Intellectual Property Rights.

• Related Mailing Lists.

Preface

Privacy and Privacy Rights

One of the issues is the substantial difficulty in describing privacy and the circumstances when it should be protected in different cultures; another issue is the difficulty of implementing effective monitoring and control systems to assure privacy protection of any sort.

In 1972, the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health Education and Welfare, then Elliot L. Richardson, appointed an Advisory Committee on Automated Personal Data Systems to explore the impact of computerized record keeping on individuals. In a report published in 1973, the Advisory Committee proposed a Code of Fair Information Practices. These practices supplied the intellectual and statutory framework for the Privacy Act of 1974, the U.S. federal law regulating the use of personal information by the government, and served as a model for privacy legislation in this country and worldwide. The basic principles of the 1973 Code are as follows:

1. There must be no personal data record-keeping systems whose very existence is secret;
2. There must be a way for an individual to find out what information is in his or her file and how the information is being used;
3. There must be a way for an individual to correct information in his or her records;
4. Any organization creating, maintaining, using, or disseminating records of personally identifiable information must assure the reliability of the data for its intended use and must take precautions to prevent misuse; and
5. There must be a way for an individual to prevent personal information obtained for one purpose from being used for another purpose without his or her consent.

Return to Table of Contents for this page. Go to Top | Bottom. 
__________________________________________

These principles represent a consensus of stakeholders from the private sector, consumer and other public interest organizations and some Canadian government bodies. Their adoption and use is entirely voluntary; but they may represent a starting point for planned legislation (see source below).

1. Accountability: An organization is responsible for personal information under its control, and shall designate an individual or individuals who are accountable for the organization's compliance with the Code's principles.
2. Identifying Purposes: The purposes for which personal information is collected shall be identified by the organization at or before the time the information is collected.
3. Consent: The knowledge and consent of the individual are required for the collection, use or disclosure of personal information, except where inappropriate.
4. Limiting Collection: The collection of personal information shall be limited to that which is necessary for the purposes identified by the organization. Information shall be collected by fair and lawful means.
5. Limiting Use, Disclosure and Retention: Personal information shall not be used or disclosed for purposes other than those for which it was collected, except with the consent of the individual or as required by law. Personal information shall be retained only as long as is necessary for the fulfilment of those purposes.
6. Accuracy: Personal information shall be as accurate, complete and up-to-date as is necessary for the purposes for which it is to be used.
7. Safeguards: Personal information shall be protected by security safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information.
8. Openness: An organization shall make readily available to individuals specific information about its policies and practices relating to the management of personal information.
9. Individual Access: Upon request, an individual shall be informed of the existence, use and disclosure of his or her personal information, and shall be given access to that information. An individual shall be able to challenge the accuracy and completeness of the information and have it amended as appropriate.
10. Challenging Compliance: An individual shall be able to address a challenge concerning compliance with the above principles to the designated individual or individuals accountable for the organization's compliance.

• the principle that the existence of any government databases containing personal information is known to those whose personal information is contained therein. This is also known as the principle of transparency.
• the principle that the government will minimize the collections of personal information from its citizens, and collect only what is necessary and relevant for government activity to be carried out.
• the principle that the reason the personal information is collected, and the administrative uses of any personal information collected, will be established in advance and made public--this is also known as the principle of transparency.
• the principle of establishing and requiring responsible "keepers" of personal information systems.
• the principle of controlling linkages, transfers and interconnections involving personal information.
• the principles of requiring accuracy and completeness in personal information systems.
• the principle of requiring informed consent for the collection of personal information.
• the principle of protecting against "data trespass" or wrongful disclosure of personal information, including civil and criminal penalties for abuses of that information.
• the requirement for special rules for protecting sensitive personal information.
• the right of access to, and correction of, personal information.
• the right to be forgotten, including the ultimate anonymization or destruction of almost all personal information when the information is no longer relevant.

Return to Table of Contents for this page. Go to Top | Bottom. 
__________________________________________

• Alberta Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Home Page, including information on the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (FOIP) Act, and links to related websites.

• The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse is a non-profit (originally sponsored by the University of San Diego, and now affiliated with the Utility Consumers' Action Network-UCAN) The purposes of the clearinghouse are posted:
• To raise consumers' awareness of how technology affects personal privacy.
• To empower consumers to take action to control their own personal information by providing practical tips on privacy protection.
• To respond to specific privacy-related complaints from consumers and, when appropriate, refer them to the proper organizations for further assistance.
• To document the nature of Californians' concerns about privacy in regular reports and make them available to policymakers, industry representatives and consumer advocates.

• The Privacy Commissioner of New Zealand hosts a collection of papers which may be of interest.

• See also: links relating to free speech on the Internet - the 26 June 1997 unanimous decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in finding the Communications Decency Act of 1996 unconstitutional on its face. See the CIEC website, which also posts the syllabus (14 Kb) of the Supreme Court decision (96-511), the unanimous opinion (95 Kb; written by Justice John Paul Stevens) and a concurrence (30 Kb; written by Justices O'Connor and Rehnquist). The initial appeals court decision (12 June 1996) contained an excellent Introduction to the Internet, written for the general reader, which you may also find helpful.

• The Electronic Frontier Foundation (about) posts "Deeplinks," a great resource for people interested in the world of online rights and privacy matters.
  

Return to Table of Contents for this page. Go to Top | Bottom. 

__________________________________________

Intellectual Property Rights Index

• The Ultimate Guide to Copyright is posted by WhoIsHostingThis (about). They include sections on What is Copyright?, History and Philosophy of Copyright, Permission to Publish, Freedom of Speech, and many more. It is very helpful.

• Copyright Website. "This site endeavors to provide real world, practical and relevant copyright information of interest to infonauts, netsurfers, webspinners, content providers, musicians, appropriationists, activists, infringers, outlaws, and law abiding citizens. Launched on May Day 95, this site seeks to encourage discourse and invite solutions to the myriad of copyright tangles that currently permeate the Web; The Copyright Website strives to lubricate the machinations of information delivery."

• Stanford University Libraries: Copyright and Fair Use page.

• And, just as counterpoint, here is an excellent article about the availability of digitized books whose copyrights were not renewed following a 1964 change in copyright law. It is "Millions of Books Are Secretly in the Public Domain. You Can Download Them Free", and comes to us because of "a quirk of copyright law [which] means that millions of books are now free for anyone to read, thanks to some [astute] work from the New York Public Library."
  

Return to Table of Contents for this page. Go to Top | Bottom. 

__________________________________________

Related Mailing Lists

• http://www.vortex.com/privacy.html

• listproc@cni.org

• information CNI-COPYRIGHT

 CYBERSPACE-LAW is a free (distribution-only) e-mail Internet seminar for non-lawyers. It will send out one message every 2-3 days about the basic principles of the law of copyright, free speech, libel, privacy, contract, and trademark, as they apply on the Net.

Return to the Table of Contents or the TOP of this page.
Return to suite of Internet HELP pages.
Return to the Meek's HOMEPAGE.

11 August 2019 (Sm 2.33.n ff, w/SC; Win10pOn). Page created: 28 February 1996.