"What is the appropriate balance between privacy, security, and accountability? What do we owe each other in terms of information sharing and access?"
Adam D. Moore (Information School) has edited a new book analyzing the moral and legal foundations of privacy, security, and accountability, drawing on participants from a 2013 conference sponsored by the Simpson Center for the Humanities.
Privacy, Security and Accountability: Ethics, Law and Policy (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) features multiple contributors from the conference, Information Ethics and Policy: Intellectual Property, Privacy, and Freedom of Speech, which Adam organized. The conference drew researchers and practitioners from across disciplines to consider emerging questions at the intersection of information studies and social policy.
The new collection reflects those concerns. From the publisher:
What is the appropriate balance between privacy, security, and accountability? What do we owe each other in terms of information sharing and access? Why is privacy valuable and is it more or less important than other values like security or free speech? Is Edward Snowden a hero or villain? Within democratic societies, privacy, security, and accountability are seen as important values that must be balanced appropriately. If there is too much privacy, then there may be too little accountability—and more alarmingly, too little security. On the other hand, where there is too little privacy, individuals may not have the space to grow, experiment, and engage in practices not generally accepted by the majority. Moreover, allowing overly limited control over access to and uses of private places and information may itself be a threat to security. By clarifying the moral, legal, and social foundations of privacy, security, and accountability, this book helps determine the appropriate balance between these contested values.
Adam co-wrote the introduction with Michael Katell (Information School). He also contributed the essay “Why Privacy and Accountability Trump Security.”
Congratulations, Adam!