Moving to a World of More Seamless Single Sign-on Access: NISO’s RA21 Recommended Practice

Abstract

In this Standards Update column, Todd Carpenter, Executive Director of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), provides a preview of NISO’s upcoming RA21 Recommended Practice for single sign-on systems. Carpenter describes previous attempts at single sign-on standards, the essential difficulties in authenticating users, and how RA21 will address these issues while ensuring the privacy of user data.     

Ethical Considerations in Adoption Research: Navigating Confidentiality and Privacy Across the Adoption Kinship Network

Abstract

Adoption research often includes multiple members of the adoption network, each of whom has distinctive perspectives. Participants may include adopted individuals and their siblings as well as adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoption professionals. Due to these multiple informants and the sensitivity of the topics explored in adoption research, researchers encounter several unique ethical concerns when working with populations impacted by adoption. The current article addresses confidentiality and privacy issues that arise when conducting adoption research. Examples from a longitudinal study on openness in adoption are provided to highlight strategies that can be used to address these issues.     

网络技术背景下个人隐私权受侵问题的探讨

在网络技术背景下,侵犯个人隐私权事件频频发生。究其原因,主要是网络技术的异化、网络操作主体的道德失范和政府部门的监管不力。对此,应当加强网络主体伦理原则渗透,加大网络隐私侵权行为的技术控制,构建一体化的政府网络监管体系。     

A Probabilistic Perspective on Re-Identifiability

A quasi-identifier is a set of attributes that can be used to re-identify entries in anonymized data sets. A group of individuals is considered about whom quasi-identifying numerical information is disclosed such as date of birth, age, weight, and height. The fraction of individuals is determined whose information is unique in that group and hence is identifiable unambiguously. Nonuniformity can be captured well by a single number, the Kullback-Leibler distance. For example sets of real microdata, given approximations based on Kullback-Leibler distances are accurate. Second, the effect of disclosing more specific or less specific information is analyzed experimentally. Third, the effect of correlation between numerical attributes is measured. A formula gives the re-identifiability level. The approximations are validated using publicly available demographic data sets.     

Decentering technology in discourse on discrimination*

ABSTRACT

Algorithmic discrimination has become one of the critical points in the discussion about the consequences of an intensively datafied world. While many scholars address this problem from a purely techno-centric perspective, others try to raise broader social justice concerns. In this article, we join those voices and examine norms, values, and practices among European civil society organizations in relation to the topic of data and discrimination. Our goal is to decenter technology and bring nuance into the debate about its role and place in the production of social inequalities. To accomplish this, we rely on Nancy Fraser’s theory of abnormal justice which highlights interconnections between maldistribution of economic benefits, misrecognition of marginalized communities, and their misrepresentation in political processes. Fraser’s theory helps situate technologically mediated discrimination alongside other more conventional kinds of discrimination and injustice and privileges attention to economic, social, and political conditions of marginality. Using a thematic analysis of 30 interviews with civil society representatives across Europe’s human rights sector, we bring clarity to this idea of decentering. We show how many groups prioritize the specific experiences of marginalized groups and ‘see through’ technology, acknowledging its connection to larger systems of institutionalized oppression. This decentered approach contrasts the process-oriented perspective of tech-savvy civil society groups that shy from an analysis of systematic forms of injustice.     

The Balance Point - Authentication Issues and Updates

Abstract

A recent segment of the Sharpest Tool in the Shed column in this journal provided an overview of the current options for the authentication of access to electronic resources. This edition of Balance Point follows up on that column, providing updates on both the RA21 initiative and OpenAthens, while also delving more deeply into some of the issues surrounding their adoption and implementation.     

Ludic encounters – understanding surveillance through game metaphors

This article explores the connections between game studies and surveillance studies. Although much of previous research analyzes surveillance as an oppressive practice, a more critical approach has recently identified the playful and enjoyable sides of watching and exposing. Surveillance in fact has many playful and game-like functions, which have not yet been addressed in their full extent. In this article, the vocabulary of play and game is used in order to uncover these game-like functions or surveillance practices. Five distinct game metaphors are presented: (1) cat-and-mouse, (2) hide-and-seek, (3) labyrinth, (4) sleight-of-hand and (5) poker. These metaphors reveal connections between enjoyment and control. Their implications are discussed both in urban settings and in virtual surroundings. In this article it is argued that faking, tricking and camouflaging have become persistent elements of urban and virtual cultures. There is no single authority watching, nor single context of surveillance and/or play. Rather, there are multiple players with variable motives. Examining the game elements of surveillance facilitates a broader understanding of how this practice moves beyond power and discipline. It also shows how surveillance and games are more intertwined than might have previously been recognized.     

人类基因组计划及其引起的社会法律问题

人类基因组计划是人类科学史上最伟大的工程。在其实施过程中 ,不可避免的会引起一些社会法律问题。关键是在基因研究中 ,要坚决防止具有遗传学特征的各种形式的歧视。因为人类基因组是构成人类家庭所有成员的基本单位 ,它们之间存在着固有的差异 ,无论它们的遗传特征如何 ,每个个体的独特性和差异都应当受到尊重     

夫妻间知情权与隐私权的冲突与平衡

夫妻间知情权与隐私权的冲突是权利冲突在现实生活中的突出表现之一,其产生的根本原因在于权利的涉它性以及权利边界的模糊性,同时我国隐私权与知情权立法的缺失增加了两权利冲突发生的可能性。因此,平衡夫妻间知情权与隐私权冲突可从完善立法、明确权利边界和个案利益衡量等角度进行尝试。     

基于决策树选择模型的物联网隐私信息保护策略研究

结合决策树分析模型和用户新技术采纳行为研究方法,通过情景模拟和现场培训,采用方便样本抽样调查,让被调查者对物联网背景下的个人隐私信息保护的5个策略:销毁标签、用户模式、机器模式、企业自律、法律限制进行选择,并分析了策略间的关系。结果表明,尽管了解到保留RFID标签能够带来很多益处,被调查者依然不相信自动的复杂信息保护方式,而是宁愿销毁标签。为此,建立良好的诚信机制和增加对消费者隐私信息保护的透明度是消除消费者心理障碍的重要措施。