The transparent self

This paper critically engages with new self-tracking technologies. In particular, it focuses on a conceptual tension between the idea that disclosing personal information increases one’s autonomy and the idea that informational privacy is a condition for autonomous personhood. I argue that while self-tracking may sometimes prove to be an adequate method to shed light on particular aspects of oneself and can be used to strengthen one’s autonomy, self-tracking technologies often cancel out these benefits by exposing too much about oneself to an unspecified audience, thus undermining the informational privacy boundaries necessary for living an autonomous life.     

Public anonymity and the connected world

We defend public anonymity in the light of the threat posed by digital technology. Once people could reasonably assume that they were fairly anonymous when they left the house. They neither drove nor walked around with GPS devices; they paid their highway tolls in cash; they seldom bought on credit; and no cameras marked their strolls in the park or their walks down the street. Times have changed. We begin with a brief discussion of the concept of anonymity. We then argue that public anonymity helps promote privacy in public. Next, we argue that public anonymity is worth protecting insofar as it promotes autonomy. After that we attempt to show how digital technology threatens public anonymity in the context of CCTV and GPS devices. We argue for a significant scaling back of public surveillance. We close with some thoughts on what we take to be the gratuitous costs imposed on those who would attempt to preserve their anonymity in public.     

Adverse events and placebo effects: African scientists, HIV, and ethics in the 'global health sciences'

This paper builds on the growing literature in 'postcolonial technoscience' by examining how science and ethics travel in transnational HIV research. I use examples of two controversial US-funded studies of mother-to-child transmission in Africa as case studies through which to explore quandaries of difference and inequality in global health research. My aim is not to adjudicate the debates over these studies, but rather to raise some questions about transnational research, science, and ethics that often get lost in public controversies over the moral status of such trials. Using interviews conducted with American and Ugandan HIV researchers as well as relevant material published in the popular and medical press, I argue that debates over research practice and the conditions under which practices are deemed ethically legitimate or questionable reflect the challenges faced by African researchers seeking to participate in global health science. In doing so, I show how questions of scientific legitimacy and authority are played out in debates over who decides what constitutes 'the normal' in human biological research and who can legitimately 'speak for Africa' regarding the ethics of research design and practice. I conclude that researchers from'resource-poor settings' must often walk a tightrope between claims of difference from the global North and assertions of sameness, in which a claim too forceful in either direction can undermine the ethical--and thus scientific--legitimacy of their research.     

Ethics for the New Surveillance

The Principles of Fair Information Practice are almost three decades old and need to be broadened to take account of new technologies for collecting personal information such as drug testing, video cameras, electronic location monitoring, and the Internet. I argue that the ethics of a surveillance activity must be judged according to the means, the context and conditions of data collection, and the uses/goals, and suggest 29 questions related to this. The more one can answer these questions in a way that affirms the underlying principle (or a condition supportive of it), the more ethical the use of a tactic is likely to be. Four conditions are identified that, when breached, are likely to violate an individual's reasonable expectation of privacy. Respect for the dignity of the person is a central factor and emphasis is put on the avoidance of harm, validity, trust, notice, and permission when crossing personal borders.     

Unblinking eyes: the ethics of automating surveillance

In this paper I critique the ethical implications of automating CCTV surveillance. I consider three modes of CCTV with respect to automation: manual (or non-automated), fully automated, and partially automated. In each of these I examine concerns posed by processing capacity, prejudice towards and profiling of surveilled subjects, and false positives and false negatives. While it might seem as if fully automated surveillance is an improvement over the manual alternative in these areas, I demonstrate that this is not necessarily the case. In preference to the extremes I argue in favour of partial automation in which the system integrates a human CCTV operator with some level of automation. To assess the degree to which such a system should be automated I draw on the further issues of privacy and distance. Here I argue that the privacy of the surveilled subject can benefit from automation, while the distance between the surveilled subject and the CCTV operator introduced by automation can have both positive and negative effects. I conclude that in at least the majority of cases more automation is preferable to less within a partially automated system where this does not impinge on efficacy.     

基于扫描分析的视频监控网络安全现状及对策研究

当前国内视频监控领域普遍呈现监控设备种类众多,但由于资产底数不清、弱口令问题严重、管理体系不健全、安全标准缺乏和系统防护不足等问题带来诸多安全隐患,面临着严峻的网络安全挑战。结合2019年全国视频监控网络安全现场检查工作,对某省两地市采用基于主动扫描的资产识别技术部署检查,通过对裸露在互联网的视频监控系统的安全性以及视频监控网络安全检查的数据进行分析,发现在前端接入、系统应用、安全域边界和安全管理四方面存在风险和隐患。最后提出从技术和管理两个角度逐步提升国内视频监控网络的安全管理和风险防范能力。     

Protecting privacy in public? Surveillance technologies and the value of public places

While maintaining the importance of privacy for critical evaluations of surveillance technologies, I suggest that privacy also constrains the debate by framing analyses in terms of the individual. Public space provides a site for considering what is at stake with surveillance technologies besides privacy. After describing two accounts of privacy and one of public space, I argue that surveillance technologies simultaneously add an ambiguityand a specificity to public places that are detrimental to the social, cultural, and civic importance of these places. By making public places accessible to other places and/or times, surveillance technologies make these social contexts ambiguous by blurring their spatial and temporal bounds. At the same time, surveillancetechnologies valence public places in functionally specificways that are detrimental to informal civic life. To complement defensive approaches to surveillance technologies based onindividual privacy, I conclude by suggesting how sociality as a relational value or an ethics of place as a contextual value could provide a proactive line of reasoning for affirming the value ofthat which is between people and places.     

Surveillance in ubiquitous network societies: normative conflicts related to the consumer in-store supermarket experience in the context of the Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an emerging global infrastructure that employs wireless sensors to collect, store, and exchange data. Increasingly, applications for marketing and advertising have been articulated as a means to enhance the consumer shopping experience, in addition to improving efficiency. However, privacy advocates have challenged the mass aggregation of personally-identifiable information in databases and geotracking, the use of location-based services to identify one’s precise location over time. This paper employs the framework of contextual integrity related to privacy developed by Nissenbaum (Privacy in context: technology, policy, and the integrity of social life. Stanford University Press, Stanford, 2010) as a tool to understand citizen response to implementation IoT-related technology in the supermarket. The purpose of the study was to identify and understand specific changes in information practices brought about by the IoT that may be perceived as privacy violations. Citizens were interviewed, read a scenario of near-term IoT implementation, and were asked to reflect on changes in the key actors involved, information attributes, and principles of transmission. Areas where new practices may occur with the IoT were then highlighted as potential problems (privacy violations). Issues identified included the mining of medical data, invasive targeted advertising, and loss of autonomy through marketing profiles or personal affect monitoring. While there were numerous aspects deemed desirable by the participants, some developments appeared to tip the balance between consumer benefit and corporate gain. This surveillance power creates an imbalance between the consumer and the corporation that may also impact individual autonomy. The ethical dimensions of this problem are discussed.     

Doxing: a conceptual analysis

Doxing is the intentional public release onto the Internet of personal information about an individual by a third party, often with the intent to humiliate, threaten, intimidate, or punish the identified individual. In this paper I present a conceptual analysis of the practice of doxing and how it differs from other forms of privacy violation. I distinguish between three types of doxing: deanonymizing doxing, where personal information establishing the identity of a formerly anonymous individual is released; targeting doxing, that discloses personal information that reveals specific details of an individual’s circumstances that are usually private, obscure, or obfuscated; and delegitimizing doxing, which reveals intimate personal information that damages the credibility of that individual. I also describe how doxing differs from blackmail and defamation. I argue that doxing may be justified in cases where it reveals wrongdoing (such as deception), but only if the information released is necessary to reveal that such wrongdoing has occurred and if it is in the public interest to reveal such wrongdoing. Revealing additional information, such as that which allows an individual to be targeted for harassment and intimidation, is unjustified. I illustrate my discussion with the examples of the alleged identification of the creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto, by Newsweek magazine, the identification of the notorious Reddit user Violentacrez by the blog Gawker, and the harassment of game developer Zoe Quinn in the ‘GamerGate’ Internet campaign.     

Knowledge appreciates your generosity: exploring a meeting point between knowledge and wisdom

I pay tribute to Don Lamberton in this paper by exploring the importance of generosity in knowledge systems. The purpose of this paper is to show that a range of important dynamics in knowledge systems are enhanced by generosity. I also argue that generosity is one of the meeting points between knowledge and wisdom, and that it should become an important consideration in the knowledge policy development process. It is important that we move knowledge systems closer to wisdom if we are to respond in the best ways to such major global challenges as climate change, a fragile global financial system, the emergence of new technologies, poverty, endemic military and paramilitary conflict, and global food and water security.     

The importance of privacy revisited

James Rachels’ seminal paper “Why Privacy Is Important” (1975) remains one of the most influential statements on the topic. It offers a general theory that explains why privacy is important in relation to mundane personal information and situations. According to the theory, privacy is important because it allows us to selectively disclose personal information and to engage in behaviors appropriate to and necessary for creating and maintaining diverse personal relationships. Without this control, it is implied, the diversity of relationships would diminish; relationships would “flatten out”, we might say. The aspect of the paper that addresses information flows (what I refer to as his information privacy theory) has been of particular interest to computer information privacy theorists. Despite its continued importance to computer privacy theorists, however, the information privacy theory appears to be contradicted by recent developments in computing. In particular, since the publication of Rachels’ paper we have seen an extensive amount of personal information collected. Further, recent developments in computing falling under the heading of social computing have brought about a new wave of personal information creation and collection. This paper will reassess and resituate Rachels’ information privacy theory in light of these developments. I will argue that the increasing collection of personal data will not flatten relationships as the information privacy theory predicts because such data lack contextual factors important to Rachels’ general theory. The paper will conclude by pointing to some areas where Rachels’ general theory and where his information privacy theory will continue to be relevant.     

The Internet, children, and privacy: the case against parental monitoring

It has been recommended that parents should monitor their children’s Internet use, including what sites their children visit, what messages they receive, and what they post. In this paper, I claim that parents ought not to follow this advice, because to do so would violate children’s right to privacy over their on-line information exchanges. In defense of this claim, I argue that children have a right to privacy from their parents, because such a right respects their current capacities and fosters their future capacities for autonomy and relationships.     

Balancing incremental and radical innovation through performance measurement and incentivization

The literature has discussed the introduction of incentive structures as a means of achieving a balance between organizational exploration and exploitation. This study posits that this is not a reasonable approach to achieving such a balance. I used a micro-economic model where the explorative and exploitative activities are modeled in accordance with the definitions in March (1991). This model shows that the personal cost to the employee of performing activities was a crucial factor in determining their balancing of resources between exploration and exploitation. However, these personal costs are also the Achilles' heel of such balance calculations because information regarding this type of cost is incomplete and difficult, perhaps even impossible, for the owner or manager to obtain. Based on this and the process and output characteristics of exploratory activities, I argue that it is not appropriate to design a hard, quantitative performance measurement and incentive system to balance resource allocation between explorative and exploitative activities. The study shows that the solution to achieving such a balance must be found outside of the incentive system. Further, I posit that managing R&D departments requires the management to focus on enforcing productive workspaces and norms and not on performance measurement and associated disbursal of rewards/punishments.     

AI领域基础科学网络对技术创新网络影响研究

随着人类科技创新能力的不断提升,基础科学对技术创新的推动作用也愈发显现。本文围绕人工智能科学与技术发展,基于WOS数据库,以及USPTO数据库,构建了人工智能基础科学合作网络和专利技术合作网络,系统分析了人工智能科学与技术全球区域发展格局,以及其他多样性网络特征,探讨了人工智能基础科学网络与专利技术网络的相互影响。研究显示,无论是科学还是技术,美国依然是世界第一;中国在论文发表上占优,但技术创新较弱,而印度则技术转化能力强;英、法和意大利等在人工智能技术创新上失去了领先优势。模型研究发现,基础科学网络中心性程度高的国家对技术创新有显著帮助,而科学网络结构洞和聚集系数对技术创新没有显著影响。     

Negotiating autonomy and responsibility in military robots

Central to the ethical concerns raised by the prospect of increasingly autonomous military robots are issues of responsibility. In this paper we examine different conceptions of autonomy within the discourse on these robots to bring into focus what is at stake when it comes to the autonomous nature of military robots. We argue that due to the metaphorical use of the concept of autonomy, the autonomy of robots is often treated as a black box in discussions about autonomous military robots. When the black box is opened up and we see how autonomy is understood and ‘made’ by those involved in the design and development of robots, the responsibility questions change significantly.     

工作自主性对知识获取行为的影响机制———基于复杂产品研发项目管理者的证据

复杂产品研发项目管理者基于项目需求的知识获取行为对于实现项目目标至关重要，利用宽松的工作环境提升研发项目管理者的知识获取行为是创新管理的一种思路。通过对245份问卷数据的实证分析，探讨了工作自主性对复杂产品研发项目管理者知识获取行为的影响机制。研究发现，复杂产品研发项目管理团队的工作自主性正向影响其项目管理者的知识获取行为，项目管理者的创新自我效能感在上述关系中具有中介作用，项目组织间的网络关系质量既调节了工作自主性与项目管理者知识获取行为之间的关系，又调节了工作自主性与项目管理者创新自我效能感之间的关系，网络关系质量对项目管理者的创新自我效能感在工作自主性对其知识获取行为影响中的中介效应具有调节作用。研究结论对优化研发项目管理，加快复杂产品系统产业技术创新具有一定的启示。     

Global production networks, knowledge diffusion, and local capability formation

This paper develops a conceptual framework that explores the linkage between the evolution of global production networks (GPN), the role of network flagships in transferring knowledge, and the formation of capabilities by local suppliers. GPN are a major innovation in the organization of international business. These networks combine concentrated dispersion of the value chain across the boundaries of the firm and national borders, with a parallel process of integrating hierarchical layers of network participants. The network flagships transfer both explicit and tacit knowledge to local suppliers through formal and informal mechanisms. This is necessary to upgrade the local suppliers’ technical and managerial skills, so that they can meet the flagships’ specifications. We also examine how GPN can act as mediators in the capability formation of local suppliers.     

The moral value of informational privacy in cyberspace

Solutions to the problem ofprotecting informational privacy in cyberspacetend to fall into one of three categories:technological solutions, self-regulatorysolutions, and legislative solutions. In thispaper, I suggest that the legal protection ofthe right to online privacy within the USshould be strengthened. Traditionally, inidentifying where support can be found in theUS Constitution for a right to informationalprivacy, the point of focus has been on theFourth Amendment; protection in this contextfinds its moral basis in personal liberty,personal dignity, self-esteem, and othervalues. On the other hand, the constitutionalright to privacy first established by Griswoldv. Connecticut finds its moral basis largelyin a single value, the value of autonomy ofdecision-making. I propose that an expandedconstitutional right to informational privacy,responsive to the escalating threats posed toonline privacy by developments in informationaltechnology, would be more likely to find asolid moral basis in the value of autonomyassociated with the constitutional right toprivacy found in Griswold than in the varietyof values forming the moral basis for the rightto privacy backed by the Fourth Amendment.     

A Trajectory for Community Networks

We argue that the World Wide Web, network communities, and computer-supported cooperative work have transformed the context for community networks, occasioning a reconstruction of the concept. We analyze features of proximate communities and use these as a basis for examining the design rationale for current implementations of community networks. In particular, we highlight multiple roles and relationships, social and material reciprocity, personal and institutional visibility and accountability, personal and collective efficacy, community-based institutions, and place. We use the analysis to identify directions for further study and development of community networking.