Privacy

Dozens of silent watchers, working for corporations that want to learn about you so they can sell you things, track you when you go online. Why does America tolerate all that spying? "Consumers are concerned about their privacy and about being tracked online. But the commission recognizes that a lot of content is advertising-supported, and advertising is tracking-supported," says Peder Magee, a senior staff attorney at the Federal Trade Commission who specializes in "behavioral advertising" policy.

What do you call a household with a computer and a teenager? An open book. While Mom and Dad are pushing bank statements and canceled checks through a paper shredder as a safeguard, chances are junior is in the next room shredding the family's privacy - online, bit by byte. A new study shows that teens say it's fine - cool, even - to hand over personal details in return for the prizes offered by online marketers. Nearly two out of three teens will name favorite stores. A third will reveal their allowances, and whether their parents talk politics at home.

Of the many forecasts for the next century, a safe one is that privacy will be a goner. The computer is already leading to that in medical recordkeeping, personal buying patterns and even in tracking our physical whereabouts. And we're only in the beginning stages of keeping tabs on everything about everyone. Every now and then, there's an outrageous assault on privacy, such as the recent surfacing of thousands of AIDS patients' names from a supposedly secure filing system.

TELL ME again, what's wrong with "judicial activism"? In recent years, those have become dirty words, with even liberals attacking conservative judges for being too "activist. " But thank goodness that, 40 years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court didn't shrink from what some people call activism when it overturned a Connecticut law that made it a crime for married couples to use contraception - or for others to help them get it. In Griswold v. Connecticut, the court said that guarantees inferred, although not precisely stated, in several constitutional amendments make up a "right to privacy," a right to be protected from government interference in intimate decisions.

DREW Barrymore makes out enthusiastically, vigorously, and in public with every new man in her life . . . those she marries and those she doesn't. J-Lo has trumpeted every detail of her life with numerous soul mates (three husbands and several assorted exes) but is keeping her apparent pregnancy private. Britney/Lindsey/Nicole/Paris (are they really separate people?) ensure that the paparazzi are there at (practically) every door opening to take photos of them with and without panties, but proclaim their desire for "privacy" as they enter/exit/re-enter rehab and jail.

WORDS ARE powerful. Sometimes, they give us a glimpse into a person's soul, translate unexpressed thoughts into cogent principles or simply entertain us for a few hours. But sometimes words are insidious. Taken out of context, given a spin, they can assume a life of their own. Ask the Dixie Chicks. A few poorly chosen comments from their lead singer about her disaffection with the president, and the dazzling darlings of country drew the ire of patriots and music lovers across the nation.

Not too long ago, I went to buy some speaker wire - a total purchase of less than $10, as I recall. The clerk took my cash and then did the usual fandango on the computer. Lots of keys were punched. "The last four digits of your telephone number, please," he asked. No way, said I. The clerk was insistent. The computer demanded it, he said. Here, in a single incident, was much that I consider evil in the world. Here, in other words, was someone taking orders from a machine and insisting I do the same.

Two companies yesterday scrapped plans to sell a computer program that could reveal detailed information about the shopping and personal habits of 120 million Americans. A person or business using the program would have been able to identify couples, say, who might be interested in financial services. Or the names and addresses of affluent elderly widows. Or single women over 35 years old living in a particular city. But after a maelstrom of complaints - and 30,000 requests from consumers asking to be deleted from the database - Lotus Development Corp.

If you own a cell phone, you should care about the outcome of a case scheduled to be argued in federal appeals court in Philadelphia tomorrow. It could well decide whether the government can use your cell phone to track you - even if it hasn't shown probable cause to believe it will turn up evidence of a crime. The American Civil Liberties Union, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Center for Democracy and Technology will ask the court to require that the government at least show probable cause before it can track your whereabouts.

If someone raps on your door or rings your bell, the sensible response is to ask: "Who's there?" There's nothing impolite about the question. You have a right to know who is standing outside your door, and why, before you open it. Or if you have a peephole, you can look out. If a Girl Scout is standing there with boxes of cookies, you can safely slide the bolt. On the other hand, if you see a man with a ski mask over his face, it would be wise to grab the phone and call the cops.

CLEVELAND - The three women rescued from a house a decade after they disappeared asked for privacy Sunday, saying through an attorney that while they are grateful for overwhelming support, they also need time to heal. Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, and Michelle Knight remain in seclusion, releasing their first statements since they were found May 6. They thanked law enforcement and said they were grateful for the support of family and the community. "I am so happy to be home, and I want to thank everybody for all your prayers," DeJesus said in a statement read by an attorney.

Dozens of silent watchers, working for corporations that want to learn about you so they can sell you things, track you when you go online. Why does America tolerate all that spying? "Consumers are concerned about their privacy and about being tracked online. But the commission recognizes that a lot of content is advertising-supported, and advertising is tracking-supported," says Peder Magee, a senior staff attorney at the Federal Trade Commission who specializes in "behavioral advertising" policy.

Architecture students at Philadelphia University confronted an unusual challenge when they created a living environment for residents at the Women of Change shelter in Philadelphia. The shelter, for women with mental illness who are chronically homeless, is meant as transitional housing. The students had to solve this puzzle: How to create beds and a living area that were comfortable and provided some privacy, without making them too comfortable or too private - the shelter should not be so nice that residents never want to leave.

HONOLULU - The future is looking bleak for a celebrity privacy bill in Hawaii known as the Steven Tyler Act. The proposal pushed by the Aerosmith lead singer would allow people to sue others who take photos or videos of their private moments. But after sailing through the Senate earlier this month following personal testimony from Tyler at a February hearing, the bill is missing deadlines in the state House, and key lawmakers say they won't push it through. Rep. Angus McKelvey, of Maui, the chairman of the first of three House committees that the bill needs to pass to get to the House floor, said that he won't hold a hearing for the bill.

Alan Westin, 83, one of the first and most widely respected scholars to explore the issues of privacy in the information age, died Monday at a hospice in Saddle River, N.J. He had cancer, his son, Jeremy Westin, said. A professor of public law and government, Mr. Westin taught at Columbia University for nearly four decades. Through his prolific academic writing and frequent media appearances, he became nationally known as one of the most knowledgeable, prescient, and reasonable voices on privacy questions in modern society.

HARRISBURG - The Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld a lower-court ruling Tuesday that the state constitution does not give people a right to privacy when it comes to their home addresses, clarifying a matter that has emerged as a major point of dispute under the Right-to-Know Law. The justices gave their approval to a January 2012 Commonwealth Court decision throwing out a lawsuit by Mel M. Marin, a prospective congressional candidate who would not...

Officials at Cheyney University urged students Friday to check their credit reports after an inadvertent release of their personal data, including Social Security numbers. The historically black college in Chester County apologized to students in a letter sent Friday. Cheyney said it was using a credit-monitoring firm to prevent misuse of the information. An administrative e-mail sent to all students on Thursday accidentally included a file with personal data, the university said.

Those airport scanners with their all-too-revealing body images will soon be going away. The Transportation Security Administration says the scanners that used a low-dose X-ray will be gone by June because the company that makes them can't fix the privacy issues. The other airport body scanners, which produce a generic outline instead of a naked image, are staying. The government rapidly stepped up its use of body scanners after a man slipped explosives onto a flight bound for Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009.

While the courts have said police can't slap a tracking device on a suspect's car without a warrant, there's no law preventing advertisers and other businesses from logging every move made by someone with a smartphone. Far from fighting this privacy intrusion, millions of cellphone users actually help make it possible by enabling their phone's mobile tracking software with just the tap of a touchscreen. But the growing sophistication of the gadgets that Americans tote most places - including their bedsides each night - has triggered a welcome look by Washington policymakers at new privacy protections.

Apps for smartphone privacy can hunt down malware, find a lost phone, hide files, and boost security for online accounts. All these are free, and most are for Android and Apple devices. Lookout by Lookout Inc. has useful, even entertaining functions that will check your phone for malicious software, tell you whether you're on a secure WiFi connection, and track down your device if it gets taken or misplaced. If your phone is lost or stolen, Lookout offers several options, though they require you to have GPS activated before the device goes missing.