"Public Records on the Internet: The Privacy Dilemma"

Internet Privacy
Review and Reaction to the Article
“Public Records on the Internet: The Privacy Dilemma” (Givens)

In “Public Records on the Internet,” Givens exposes the dangers and perceived consequences of the posting of public records on the internet. The accessibility of public records promotes governmental accountability and transparency. Conversely, in a technological age, the exposure of private citizens’ information jeopardizes their safety.
There are a variety of public records that are accessible via the internet. These include tax records, motor vehicle records, voter files, state and federal licenses, and court files. Of most concern are court files. Court files contain sensitive information regarding the personal lives and identities of individuals involved in the file. Issues dealing with family law are particularly concerning. Posted court files lend themselves to identity theft, safety threats, and intimidation that did not exist when only paper records were kept. Paper records created a “de facto privacy” that required the inquirer to activity go to a courthouse and retrieve documents. When documents are posted on line, they may readily be accessed by the “click of a mouse” eliminating any privacy the individual may have had.
Givens suggests that there are several “negative consequences” of posting court records on the internet and then offers several suggestions to amend them. I will speak to three of these.

Identity Theft. The posting of personal information when it is not pertinent fact constitutes irresponsible posting by governmental agencies. The inclusion of unnecessary personal identifying information or the failure to block information to public view should be carefully reviewed. That high opportunity is afforded to identity thieves is indisputable.
The creation of a “two-tier” report posting seems to remedy some of the unnecessary exposure problem. The fact of a matter may be posted e.g. a child was abused. The identifying information regarding the accused social security numbers, address, etc. as well as the texted record of the grief imposed upon the child need not be entered on line. If this information is wanted, the person wanting it may then request of the courthouse records department to have it.

Risks of Personal Safety. In criminal court proceedings, victims, witnesses, and jury members are all at risk of for personal safety when identifying information is posted on the internet. Witnesses and jury members may be in fear of personal safety and decline to participate in juries except under duress. Justice potentially may not be served on several levels.
The “two-tier” method may be of some help here, but more aggressive measures should be taken to protect innocent persons such as concealment of identity except by personal request.

“Private” Judges. The existence and function of “private” judges as well as the desirability of judgment by the court alone attests to the concern for the privacy and functionality of a jury of “peers.” Though the option for these judgment avenues has long existed, posting sensitive and private information to the internet acerbates this so called dual system of justice. The ability to safeguard personal information should be the right of all persons in a free society. As our society becomes increasingly diverse and less apt to comprehend the personal liberties yet afforded it by law, I believe more persons will opt for private or court versus jury judgments in certain types of cases.

Work Cited

Givens, Beth. “Public Records on the Internet: The Privacy Dilemma.”
Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Mar. 2006. 28 Nov. 2008.

"Employee Monitoring: Is There Privacy in the Workplace?"

Internet Privacy
Review and Reaction to the Article:
“Employee Monitoring: Is There Privacy in the Workplace?” (Privacy)

Employer monitoring of its workforce is “virtually unregulated”; it is at the will and discretion of the employer. Moreover, communication technologies invite easy monitoring of employee work product and activity while “on the clock” and even while off – site. Generally, employees should be aware that there are few rights to privacy in the work place.
Motivation for monitoring includes concern for litigation over electronic records, productivity, and inappropriate or illegal activity. Most employers have policies regarding their surveillance of employees, but policies may not be legally binding.
In regard to telephone use, employers may monitor any phone conversation, log the numbers dialed, and record the time spent at that number. Electronic mail, voice mail, and instant messaging are not private. Text messages from a workplace provided phone are a little more difficult to obtain insomuch that the storage of the text messages may be from an outside telephone company.
Computer use is employers’ “window” into the workspace. Computer screens may be viewed. File content may be monitored. Even keystrokes may be logged. Employees need not be “notified” that they are being monitored.
Several privacy sites were listed in this article to which a person may refer if they have concerns. The ACLU is active in the area of personal privacy.

Of the reasons proposed by the author to justify employer monitoring, the protection of personal client records was over sighted. Employer surveillance may be fairly heavy in workplaces where large numbers of private or sensitive records are held. This is not secret. Surveillance of record disposition and use is necessary to maintain the trust of clientele. However, there is a balance that should be carefully maintained. Heavily monitoring employees in arenas outside of clientele records seems to express employer distrust of sorts of the employee. It is symptomatic of a breach in healthy employer – employee relationships.

It has occurred to me that for the Social Contract Theory to “work,” the society to which it is applied must for the most part hold in common human values such as respect, good will, and trust. If moral guidelines such as respect and trust erode, then parties must act to protect themselves. Everyone looses. I wonder if ethics and philosophy has any meaning at all in societies where large numbers of its members do not or cannot identify with the greater social impact of their personal behaviours.


Work Cited

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. “Employee Monitoring: Is There Privacy in the Workplace?” Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. July 2008. 28 Nov. 2008. .

"Search Engine Privacy Tips"

Internet Privacy
Review and Reaction to the Article:
“Search Engine Privacy Tips” (Dixon)

In “Search Engine Privacy Tips,” Dixon makes the observation that most people treat inquiry boxes on search engines like a blank slate that erases itself when the search is completed. The contrary is true. Search engines keep extensive logs of inquiries. Search engines make private information very public. Many connect names and other identifying information with searches. Some search engines have actually posted inquiries on the web. Others inquiries have been accessed by the federal government. To this, Dixon offers several personal privacy suggestions. She also recommends that readers at least start with simple protection measures versus become intimidated and do nothing at all.
While making a search inquiry, users should avoid searching their own name and /or personal identifying information such as social security numbers, passwords, and other ID; this information is logged and attached to the search engine and the user’s IP address. Users should try to avoid accepting search engine cookies. Users should be careful about what they search for remembering that the logs of these will be kept for a very long time.
Several suggestions were made regarding the search engine sites themselves. Use of an anonymizing tool may dissociate the search from the searcher. Avoid posting email, reading the news, and searching on the same search engine. Use a variety of search engines and as many different computers as possible. If one computer is consistently used, request a periodic change of IP address.
Browser histories should be deleted after each use. This is especially true when using public access computers.
From an ethical perspective, aggression against personal privacy is fierce and relentless. Personal privacy is kept only in as much as the holder is aware and is able to fend away intruders. Governmental trespass into personal privacy via the internet makes a mockery of personal privacy legislation. Full disclosure of the extent of personal privacy invasion and, governmental transparency as to its access would shock the citizenry.

Work Cited

Dixon, Pam. “Search Engine Privacy Tips.” World Privacy Forum. 14 July 2008.
28 Nov. 2008. .

Last Text Chapters & The Book

Last Text Chapters as They May Apply to Educational Setting

Chapter 36: Cyber Police
Computer use is highly monitored and restrictive in my educational setting. URL histories, emails, and actual time spent on internet activity are monitored and limited. Sites close automatically after idling for specified time frames. Exchange or download of files is limited. Views, frames and information in general are available on a needs – base only. Violations of institutional policy occur no doubt, but they are confidential and I am not aware of them. It is probable that individuals do cross institutional boundaries, but this does not seem to be common. The environment is very professional.

Chapter 37: Getting Caught
Most institutions have ethical codes of conduct. The attitude that some on line behaviour is OK if not caught is not a part of the institutional environment at all.

Chapter 38: Play by My Rules
Right and wrong is not relative. The world is unable to survive if it is. That cyberspace “has no rules” has more to do with the threat of punishment than it does with behaving responsibly within the greater human community. In my institution, employees agree that they will “play by the employer’s rules” or the person is not employed.

Chapter 39: Making Ethical Decisions
Acceptable behaviour on line may be guided by laws of the land, rules of conduct, religion, and company policies. Carefully considering the outcomes of personal behaviour is important in any environment as well.

Chapter 40: Cyber – Parenting
Parents should be take the initiative and become involved in their children’s internet activity. There are number servers and filters that may help parents shield their children from dangers on the internet. The need for internet involvement of parents in children’s lives is not a part of my institutional concern.

The Book
The Book lends itself to group discussion. It is appropriate in a public setting for use with adolescents. It might be given as a reference to a parent. The book provides questions for discussion. It is easy to read. The book is, however, fairly repetitive. Its language is diminutive. Parents are portrayed as “bad guys” and “stupid guys” versus best friends, confidants, and individuals who have the child’s best interest in mind.

On Line Voting Benefits v Risks

Regarding the benefit – risk ratio of on line voting, the risks far out weigh the benefits.

Voting from Home
The primary benefit of on line voting touted by proponents is that individuals who otherwise could not get to the polls would have an opportunity to vote from within their own home or another convenient location. However, this benefit assumes…
*that these excluded persons have and can operate a computer,
*that they are able to pay for and access internet service,
*that they will have opportunity to cast their vote without coercion, and
*that the intended individual is indeed voting.

Persons negatively impacted would be the computer illiterate, the elderly, the poor, and the oppressed. Privacy for voting would be uninsurable at the point of entry. Individual identity would be more difficult to determine.

Ballot Box Tampering
The argument that electronic voting would eliminate “ambiguity associated with paper balloting” and the “risk of ballot box tampering” is outweighed by the technological problems of safeguarding the electronic process of casting an on line vote.

These problems include guarantees …
*that personal computers be virus and otherwise tamper free
*that the website be real versus spoof
*that the website be available, not overwhelmed or under an attack
*that personal privacy be respected,
*that the personal and IP addresses of individuals not be retained, and
*that a paper trail be made to ensure backup in case of computer failure or “clitch.”

Internet voting would be a potential target for illegal tampering on a huge scale, much larger than a ballot box scale.

Monetary Costs
Whether the costs of creating, installing, insuring, and making a verifiable paper record would be less expensive than casting an on line vote is dubious. I have no way of measuring the costs to either side. Voters would sustain the cost of access to computers and the internet. A system for receiving millions of votes would need to be created and kept. The thought that large amounts of technical equipment would be on standby for months at a time and be expected to start up without high costs is unreasonable. The equipment would also require safe storage and tight security.

If electronic voting becomes an option in a larger way than it already is, it should be offered only as one of several methods in which a vote may be cast. All persons should feel safe, free, private, and comfortable with voting for the individual of their choice ...and they must know for certainty that their vote has indeed been cast.

Ethics Personal Privacy

In the Country’s infancy, the right to personal privacy was implied from privacy rights that were originally extended to personal property, especially to the home. Individuals were given the right to grant and deny access to their property to all persons including governmental representatives. Only with demonstration of significant cause was a breach of such personal privacy justified.
In Thomson (1975), “the right to be let alone” is more appropriately applied to individual privacy from the public versus from governmental intrusion or law enforcement as the example was given in the text.
In Benn and Reiman (1976), the right to personal privacy as fundamental to American liberty is expanded by equating it with “a right which all human individuals possess.”
In our technological society, physical boundaries are ineffectual as barriers against invasion of privacy. High concentrations of private information held by governmental and private others begs use and abuse of the power. The lack of transparency exacerbates abuse. Governmental and private parties alike relentlessly challenge consumers for personal information e.g. “surcharges” for cash payers, higher pricing for “non-club” shoppers, higher fees for “non-registered” drivers on state funded toll roads. Personal information is also simply given away. Children and adults alike fail to identify or value personal privacy as liberty, as a critical element of freedom.
Privacy exists in our society only as far as an individual is able (in compliance with law) to assert and defend his right. Given the citizenry’s loss of rights subsequent to 9/11 and the aggressiveness of the public and private sectors, there can be no question that personal privacy is endangered.

Saga of Shredding in U.S.

Review and Reaction to the Article:
“The Saga of Shredding in the U.S.: A Privacy Advocate’s Perspective” (Givens)

This article is a record of a presentation given at a conference of the National Association for Information Destruction in San Diego, California in May of 2004 (Givens). In her presentation, Givens offers an abbreviated history of identity theft crimes. In the early 1990s, identity theft was in its infancy. In fact, it was not even identified as identity theft per se. Crimes involving theft of personal information from data banks began to occur. Simple theft of personal information from trash containers became popular. Since that time, in the single year of 2003, 10 million individuals reported some form of identity theft. Identity theft is now divided into two types: a stolen credit is used for pay and purchase or stolen identity is used in application fraud.

The California Document Destruction Law began as a media story about the wealth of personal information to be found in trash dumpsters. In fact, Givens gives credit to the awareness of identity theft and the need for consumer protection to the media. A California legislator viewed a television video clip and subsequently introduced legislation to protect consumers against careless handling of sensitive information.

Problems with paper shedding were discussed in the light of improper shedding and the distribution of shredded paper. When paper is misloaded into shredders, the information may yet be readable. Only cross-cut shredders are recommended. Some discussion was made as to the shedding industry which has grown up around the need for privacy.

Givens encourages companies to adopt strict privacy and disposal practices for sensitive information and to screen employees. Dishonest employees account for a large part of information theft. Workplaces should create a “culture of confidentiality.”

The article was very informative, particularly as I reviewed the strictness of the California law to which she referred. The enormity of identity theft is overwhelming. In regard to media efforts, similar efforts have occurred in several cities across the U.S. where media has exposed careless information disposal. Givens adds that computer hardware, CDs, magnetic tape and microfiche are important to destroy. I add recycled personal telephones to the list.

I appreciate this article. I wondered as I read it if honesty and good will are a casualties of the digital age. Has “access” limited the ability of society to trust anyone any more?


Work Cited

Givens, Beth. “The Saga of Shredding in the U.S.: A Privacy Advocate’s
Perspective.” Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. 21 May 2004.
14 Nov. 2008. <http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/NAID.htm.>
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Alert: FTC Disposal Rule: Does It Apply to You

Review and Reaction to the Article:
“Alert: FTC Disposal Rule: Does It Apply to You?” (Privacy)

In “Alert: FTC Disposal Rule,” the author reports on the enactment of a ruling from the FTC regulating the disposal of sensitive consumer information. The target of the ruling is proper disposal of sensitive, personal information which consumers have been required to summit for services or which has been collected from them in the course of business. Both individuals and large business are to comply with this ruling.
The goal of the Disposal Rule is to protect consumers from identity theft.
The Rule applies to all forms of information gathering including paper, disc, and computer. The method of destruction is left to those who collect it. However, simply discarding sensitive information in a trash can or bin without taking effective measures to destroy it is, with this ruling, illegal and punishable.
The list of persons and business affected by this ruling is extensive and includes some persons who might not even know about it: landlords with tenant history, parents who hire someone to work in their home to take care of children.
This article was reviewed because it is about the FTC ruling upon which the previous article on prevention of identity theft was written. There are many sensitive documents viewed in the daily course of daily work. My workplace has many limitations placed on viewing electronic documents and actively tracks viewing. Document types of all kinds are carefully disposed in specific containers located in multiple places. I am continually impressed with how much security must be built around good services to protect consumers. I am impressed with the responsibility to handle and discard documents carefully.


Work Cited

Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. “Alert: FTC Disposal Rule: Does It Apply to
You?” Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. 3 June 2005. 14 Nov. 2008.
<http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/FTC-DisposalRule.htm>.
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Prevent Identity Theft with Responsible Handling

Review and Reaction to the Article:
“Prevent Identity Theft with Responsible Information-Handling Practices
in the Workplace” (Givens)

In “Preventing Identity Theft,” Givens states that there are basically two parties which must take action to prevent identity theft: the consumer and the collector of information. This article concerns responsible information handling methods in the business arena. Givens states that employers place sensitive information at risk by not properly screening dishonest employees and by not implementing adequate safeguards for information.

Givens suggests and describes fourteen measures to take to safe guard information in the workplace. Though each of these measures is important, I found several to be quite poignant and will comment on them.

Institutions should adopt a comprehensive privacy policy that includes measures to be taken to safeguard information. In addition to the policy, a specific person should be identified as responsible for the policy. This additional step to the policy puts a face to the policy for me and offers a person to call or consult regarding sensitive information. It also heightens importance and awareness. This seems more effective than requiring employees to read legal jargon they can barely decipher and then click “I understand and will comply.” Employees may click “yes” because they cannot work unless they do. I do not believe that agreement with the policy infers understanding it or its importance and ramifications. The personal addition is an excellent idea.

Institutions should dispose of documents carefully. I am impressed with how critical this is. It is also very costly. Cost is passed to the consumer. Our society is paying heavily to safeguard against sensitive information and identity crimes. I wish there were effective methods to prevent these crimes from being possible at all.

Givens suggests that data access should be restricted to a needs basis only. This restriction serves as means of keeping employees focused to their own work product and record. It limits the number of individuals who have access to the entire record; there are fewer individuals to track. It protects consumer privacy by disallowing “the dots to be connected” by a large number of employees. This is a very effective method of securing information.

Regular auditing of compliance as well as informing employees that they will be regularly audited, lends itself to a culture of safety awareness. Auditing of individuals is not personal, but institutional policy. It applies to each employee. Security of the product or protection of the sensitive record and the person it represents is the goal.


Work Cited

Givens, Beth. “Prevent Identity Theft with Responsible Information-Handling
Practices in the Workplace.” Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. March 2004.
14 Nov. 2008. <http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/PreventITWorkplace.htm>.
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Copyright Law and New Technologies

Review of the Article “Copyright Law and New Technologies,
Part 3 of an Educational World Series on Copyright and Fair Use.” (Starr)

This article on “Copyright Law and New Technologies” speaks to copyright status and use of Web pages. It reviews issues concerning Web resources and categories of software. There are two types of original works that are not covered by copyright law; those that are non-copyright protected, such as governmental, and those that reside in the public domain. Many of the laws governing new technologies predate software technologies. Good intent and common sense are important when considering using of original works and asking for permission.
Most countries protect Web pages by copyright law or regulation. Many countries participate in an international treaty which protects copyrights, the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works. The Berne Treaty, refined in Paris in 1971, addresses literally every type of work potentially posted on the Web including broadcasts, recitations, sound recordings, film and other artistic and literary works.
Posting copyrighted material to a personal Web site without investigating its copyright status may be viewed as an infringement upon the author's potential revenue. In certain circumstances, posting links, particularly copying html codes to an inside page may be an infringement. Copying illustrations to a personal Web site should be avoided. When determining if a multimedia resource or a book is in the public domain, it should be associated with a corresponding print resource as much as possible. If there is doubt, ask permission because not all Web materials and pages have corresponding print resources.
All software is protected by copyright law in the United States. Of the several types of software, each is governed by a slightly different set of regulations. The governing nuisances between commercial software, shareware, and freeware are considered. In regard to software applications in the educational setting, generally speaking use is limited to licensure, time, and absolutely no monetary involvement.
I found this article to be most interesting of the three I read in this series. I have a limited understanding now why some workplace programs are unavailable due to the small number of licenses purchased. I have never considered searching for a corresponding print resource to a Web page. I will be careful not copy a site’s html code into a work product. I have learned that as important as citing and giving credit is, it does not substitute for permission; copyrights may yet be infringed upon.
.
Work Cited
Starr, Linda. “Is Fair Use a License to Steal? Part 2 of an Education World
Series on Copyright and Fair Use.” Education World. 2004. 31 Oct. 2008
<http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280c.shtml>.
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Is Fair Use a License to Steal?

Review of the Article “Is Fair Use a License to Steal?
Part 2 of an Educational World Series on Copyright and Fair Use.” (Starr)

This article is the second of a series considering copyright law. Its focus is upon the Fair Use Doctrine and its application to the educational setting. The author begins the discussion with the caveat that if there is a question regarding “fair use,” always seek permission. This does seem like the safest recourse insomuch that the regulations are complex.
The Fair Use Doctrine was made to allow for public consideration of copyrighted works. In its application to the educational setting, the Fair Use Doctrine simply says that if a work is used for educational purposes and the possibility for significantly diminishing an author’s compensation for the work is avoided, then within certain restrictions, the educator may use the work without seeking permission.
When considering a work for instructional purposes, there are generally four factors that should be considered: purpose of use, type of work, amount to be used, and the potential for diminishing author compensation. The purpose of the use must be for education. No one may make money from its use or take money from the author. When considering incorporating a work, a precise copy should be avoided; it should be altered significantly from the original.
The type or nature of the work to be used is significant as to the regulations to which its use must adhere. In regard to the written word, there are specific regulations as to books, poems, articles, and short stories. There are specific guidelines as to illustrations, graphs, and charts. Music, videos, and digital reproductions are specifically regulated.
The amount of a work or performance used also defines whether permission for use should be obtained. Generally the smaller the percentage of a work copied the less subject it is to infringing upon copyrights.
I appreciate this over view and had no knowledge of the Fair Use Doctrine prior to this reading; I am surprised at its detail. For example, there is a limited number of days an off air taping may be used. There is a distinction between articles and poems and the same work may not be copied more than nine times in a semester. Significant is the disallowance of materials meant for consumable use. Copying workbook contents over and over for classroom use appears suspect. The most significant element to avoid when considering legal use of another’s materials is whether the individual is potentially financially damaged.

Work Cited
Starr, Linda. “Is Fair Use a License to Steal? Part 2 of an Education World Series on
Copyright and Fair Use.” Education World. 2004. 31 Oct. 2008
http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280b.shtml.
.

Copyrights and Copy Wrongs

Review and Reaction to the Article:
“Copyrights and Copy Wrongs, Part 1 of an Education World Series on Copyright and Fair Use” (Starr)

In “Copyrights and Copy Wrongs,” the basics of copyright law are seen to dispel common misunderstandings regarding the use of internet resources for educational purposes (Starr). The article reviews on line resources that are within the public domain and on line resources that are protected by copyright law.
A copyrightable work must be tangible and creative. To be tangible, the work must be recorded in some manner. To be creative, the work must be more than a collection of fact; at minimum it must be a creative arrangement of fact.
The objective of copyrighting from a societal perspective is to encourage creativity through compensation of its author. Moreover, copyrights protect the author’s right to compensation and control over the use and reproduction of his work.
The extension of copyrights to an author is not limited by the registration of the work. Rights are granted when the work is recorded.
For me, this article was very enlightening. I learned that nearly everything recorded, video, audio, written, and digital images, may easily pass the test for copyrights. Many more works are copyrighted than not. I have always considered that a work on the internet was there for public use and that permission from the author was not required for its use. Because a work is on the internet, public domain is not implied.
Quotations and citations for the work do not obviate the copyrights of the author. Permission from the author must be obtained prior to use or that use constitutes infringement. I give credit beyond what many of my colleagues do and thought this was in effect the same as obtaining permission. Multiple copies of works may divert compensation from the author. Knowing this, I am surprised that some university classes I have had did this and can only think that they must have had permission.
The safest recourse is to seek permission before using or incorporating someone else’s work no matter whether the work is cited or not. Good intentions do not satisfy respect of authors or copyright law.

Work Cited
Starr, Linda. “Copyrights and Copy Wrongs, Part 1 of an Education World Series on
Copyright and Fair Use.” Education World. 2004. 31 Oct. 2008
<http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr280a.shtml>.
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The Blue Nowhere Third Posting

Deaver, Jeffery. The Blue Nowhere. New York: Pocket Books, 2001.

Section II (cont.)

18, 19, 20 and 21
Gillette escaped from the Crimes Unit. He left out the back door disabling the fire alarm. . Gillette was Valleyman in the Knights of Access. He knows who Phate is. Both he and Phate were skilled software writers together. Then Phate went bad. He remembers taking things apart for the majority of his life. His childhood and brief college history including meeting his wife, Elana are presented. Elana is the objective of his “escape.” He disabled his anklet tracing device for only a brief time. He is trying to see Elana and give her the circuit board which he has made in prison. He is also showing his own skills at decoy and deception. At the Crimes Unit, the distracting computer wiping software has started and there are multiple “clues” for the team members to trace which Gillette planted for them.
The Pentagon, through David Chambers, puts pressure upon Bishop to keep the use of Gillette on the case a secret. Bishop deceives Chambers into believing that Gillette is under his control though at the time of the conversation, Gillette has escaped him. Chambers OKs Gillette being out of prison for three days to work on this case.
Gillette finds his way to his former wife’s home. Though he is captured, he is allowed to speak to his ex wife. He pleads with her to not leave him for someone named “Ed.” He gives her the circuit board which he smuggled out of prison. He tells her to patent it and it will make money for her and take care of her. She unconvincingly says “no.” He leaves it in the mail box.
Gillette confesses that he knows who Phate is, but only in an on line way. He states that Phate became dangerous and that he finally reported Phate’s stolen Harvard software to the Massachusetts Police. Phate was subsequently arrested.
A presumed deputy from the county, Charlie Pittman, approaches Bishop and Gillette as they are about to leave Elana’s home. He is prying for information which Bishop did not give him. Gillette is brought back to Crimes Unit. Bishop is beginning to like Gillette.
Phate selects his next victim.

The section quote that anonymity will be abolished by computing becomes a real possibility in these chapters even though elaborate cloaking devices are employed. The Captain Crunch reference was an interesting side bar. All of the characters, good and bad, use deception as a matter of daily operation. Deception is suggested as an easy, albeit elaborate at times, method of protection of privacy and information.

22 and 23
Phate has selected for his next target a little girl named Samantha. She is attending a private school that boasts security. She is the daughter of an executive that has made personal family security a priority. Phate hacks all of their information, poses as an uncle, and literally walks out of the school with the girl. While in route to his home to kill her, he becomes with distracted with a text message. He aborts his abduction of the little girl. He pulls over to the side of road, lets her out, and takes off. Phate has received a message from Shawn who tells him that Wayne Gillette is working with the Computer Crimes Unit on Phate’s murder cases. Phate is very excited about this new twist in his game. There is an obvious connection between Shawn and the character, Charlie Pittman.
Phate decides to take on the Computer Crimes Unit itself. The hunter will become the hunted. Phate is in his warehouse home. It is here that he keeps everything important to him. The warehouse is a computer museum. It is from here he stages his games.
Back in the Crimes Unit, it is suspicious that Bob Sheldon comes in late every so often. Gillette’s bot finds a posting from Phate himself; a modified quote of Shakespeare. The game is on now between the hunter and the hunted.

Phate’s character is developed in these chapters. A history of computing machines is reviewed in brief. The plot depth deepens with both good and bad in a deadly search for each other.

The Blue Nowhere Second Posting

Deaver, Jeffery. The Blue Nowhere. New York: Pocket Books, 2001.

Section II (cont.)

12 (second half) and 13
Holloway, in searching the computer files of Jamie Turner, remembers briefly his high school days. Holloway is depicted as an brilliant, disenfranchised teenager. He is ignored by his parents (who are consumed in their own lives and work) and he is marginalized by his teachers and peer groups at school. Holloway was non social, bored, and isolated. At seventeen years of age, he decided to become someone else just as he had done in the on line games he was playing. He social engineered a position in another school and became popular. While playing this acceptable social role, he was instrumental in his parents and brother’s demise. He later went to Princeton and at one time held remarkable computer positions. Now he is playing his game with Jamie Turner.
In the Crimes Unit, Gillette has been given full control over computer access and associated decisions. He cuts important lines of computer communication to prevent Phate potentially turning his game upon them. Bishop trusts Gillette and lets him do this.
Gillette’s work for the Crimes Unit is productive; he finds Phate’s true identity and some work history. He also identifies Phate as a co-leader of an on line gang, The Knights of Access. The other gang leader is identified as Valleyman. The crime investigation group recognizes Phate’s overall goal; to kill as many people as he can in one week.

The problem of capturing the interest and energy of gifted children is underscored in these two chapters. The crucial role which parents play in the development of their children is underscored. The ultimate crime of the century in regard to internet use is may be that of the invasion of privacy of all kinds, personal, corporate, and national, and the subsequent use of that information for bad.

14, 15, and 16
Most significantly to the story development, Gillette builds a bot to search for Valleyman, Phate, and Holloway. Gillette’s bot yields a message from a character known as “Vlast.” Vlast uses an internet server from Budapest and the reader is introduced to some background of the numbers of hackers in Budapest and why. Another character, “Triple X,” is found with Gillette’s bot. Gillette is able to engage in a “conversation” with Triple X where he discovers a few things about Phate’s program, Trapdoor. His conversation is cut short, however, due to a fault in the cloaking device supplied by Miller.
An abbrevated history of the Silicon Valley is presented. Its beginnings are in David Starr Jordan’s venture capital in a little known invention called the audion tube. The tube’s potential in electronics helped to create the Valley’s industry and changed the world.
Jamie Turner is presented as a disenfranchise child just as Phate is and with the same problems and potential for developing into an angry, isolated person.
Phate is updated by Shawn regarding the progress of the Crimes Unit as to his identity and automobile make. Phate goes to the St. Francis Academy and waits for Jamie Turner to come out….just as Phate has so engineered it.

The Silicon Valley history was very interesting. The history of the Budapest hackers was interesting. An internet world exists about which the average person is oblivious. The hack and chat rooms are presented as without rules and wild and dangerous.

17
Phate captures Jamie and uses him as access to “Booty.” Booty is killed. It was Booty that was Phate’s target; Jamie was the “trapdoor” to Booty. Gillette is at the crime scene. He offers council to Jamie when the school vice principle does not. Gillette is suggested as the Crime Unit’s internal spy. Gillette escapes the Crime Unit through the fire alarmed door just as Jamie had done at the school. Officer Bishop feels personally betrayed.

In this chapter, school authority figures are shown as detached and incapable of providing personal support for students. They appear unemotional and, in a sense, robotical. A dysfunctional computer addict is shown as more capable than anyone to help the boy in need. Most of the personal relationships in the story are fractured. The computer is personalized as a “co-conspirator” in Booty’s death. Booty is the second death in the week's "game." The appearance of Gillette at a crime scene seems a bit of a stretch in the story development for a prisoner serving a sentence in a federal prison.

The Blue Nowhere First Posting

Deaver, Jeffery. The Blue Nowhere. New York: Pocket Books, 2001.

Section I
1
Chapter one introduces two characters, Lara Gibson and “Will Randolph.” Lara Gibson is a single woman living relatively near Silicon Valley. She touted her adeptness at self protection, taught other women how to protect themselves, and had her own web site in regard to her business and female self protection. Lara fell prey to Will Randolph. Will Randolph is a central character of the story.
Will Randolph posed as someone whom Lara knew, but not well. He seemed to know all about Lara, shared mutual friends, and even went to some of the same parties. Randolph deliberately created a reason for Lara to want to accompany him to his car. He easily overcame her and killed her.

Lara was an objectified element of a large game Randolph is playing. He was challenged to kill the “Queen of Urban Protection” and he did it with ease, socially engineering her.

2
Wyatt Gillette, Thomas (Andy) Anderson, Detective Bishop, Bob Shelton are introduced. Gillette is a 29 year old computer wizard and code slinger who is serving out the last year of a prison sentence for being basically a threat to the National security. He sports a palm tree tattoo on his arm. He is introduced as nonviolent and a victim of his own addiction to hacking.
Thomas (Andy) Anderson is a computer police detective who himself dabbled in illegal activities. Anderson, now well educated and respected among cyber cops, is the Chief of his division of the California State Police. Detective Frank Bishop is a homicide cop who wants to be on another case. Detective Bob Shelton is another homicide cop who is portrayed as not too intelligent.
Chief Anderson takes Gillette from prison to help work on Lara’s homicide. From the evidence gathered, the case requires intense understanding computers codes. Gillette is to hack into Lara’s computer and look for any traces of the perpetrator.

The sense of the chapter is that computer experts are generally tainted with some history of illegal activity. They are extremely competitive. Their skills are beyond conventional wisdom. It seems to “take a thief to catch a thief.” The computer code slingers and wizards all have at least two things in common: respect for each other and high intrigue associated with puzzle solving. Gillette is developing as an interesting character.

3 and 4
Phate’s character is developed. His real name is Jon Patrick Holloway. He has 6 or 7 identities. He makes a living by selling computer support wares. His very best friend is “Shawn.” Phate is a wizard and brilliant code slinger. He and Shawn put together software which accesses a computer without the knowledge of its owner. The software is called “Trapdoor.” Phate’s next target is a young boy named Jamie Turner.
Jamie Turner is a 15 year old boy who is becoming a very promising code slinger himself. He attends Saint Francis Academy which has high security. He wants to break his academy master’s gate code so that he may attend a concert with his brother. He puts several computers to work on this, but to no avail. Phate has identified Jamie as his next target and is looking through Jamie’s computer files via his "Trapdoor" virus.

The student’s digital knowledge places the teacher in an apologic posturing. It is the student who is really takes control. The student is able to manipulate his unsuspecting teacher. The student is his own master.

5 and 6
California’s Computer Crimes Unit is assigned to investigate and solve Lara’s murder. The team members and others are introduced in this chapter. Linda Sanchez is a detective involved with seizure, search and logging. She is the “team bloodhound.” Sergeant Stephen Miller is the second in command. He is an older computer hacker who is later associated with a couple of oversights in his computer research investigation. Tony Mott is a computer nerd, but not typical. He is athletic and a risk taker. He wears the biggest pistol. Andy Anderson is the lead of the team. Patricia Nolan is a computer expert with good credentials who works in security with Horizon On Line, the same company with which Lara had her internet service.
Gillette is given Lara’s computer and begins to review her files with a program he has developed. In the process of the introductions and collaboration with Gillette, the team reviews significant dates in the progression of computer development in the world including those associated with Univac, ENIAC and IBM.

The reader is given significant information regarding computer ease and important dates relevant to the development of the digital world. File types are introduced. Servers and routers and roots are explained in detail.

7 and 8
Gillette discovers Unix commands on Lara’s computer. Stephan Miller claimed not recognizing these as important. Peter Fowler is introduced as a gun runner who possibly sold the perpetrator a knife. Anderson goes to Hacker’s Knoll to see if he can find out any information.
Phate is transferring Jamie’s cracker and Booty’s password file to the DRC for rapid processing to facilitate getting Jamie out of the academy. Jamie sees the root seized on his computer, but does not recognize it as an invasion of his computer. He is not alarmed.
Phate receives an email from Shawn warning him that the police are close to Phate. Phate stops manipulating Jamie’s files and leaves abruptly for Milliken Park and Hacker’s Knoll. Phate is meeting Peter Fowler, the gun/knife runner.
Anderson goes to Milliken Park and finds himself in a close encounter with who he believes is the killer. Anderson actually overtakes Peter Fowler. Phate is present and kills them both.

The intrigue for puzzle solving is inherent in each of the characters, especially the hackers. Phate is excited and confirmed that someone of Anderson’s caliber is searching for him. A key to the game is given: Anderson was stabbed in the heart. Anderson’s death is an interesting turn in the plot.

Section II

9 and 10
With Anderson’s death, Captain Bernstein is introduced as the head of the investigation both for Lara’s case and now for Anderson’s case. That Andy was killed by the same “perp” is not in question. His phone was intercepted and he was killed with the same type of knife. The homicide elements were initially assumed by Susan Wilkins, but Bishop decides that he had some guilt and wanted to pursue the case himself. Huerto Ramirez and Tim Morgan are introduced as running Anderson’s crime scene. Before Gillette can be taken back to prison as Anderson had previously ordered, Gillette identified Phate as playing a virtual game in real life. Gillette identifies the killer as a MUD head who is playing Access in real life. Gillette stays on the team.

The idea that persons are objectified, that they may be no more than mere targets and a part of a game is strongly put forth. Persons in authority are at extreme disadvantage if they are not as literate as those anticipating leadership from them.

11 and 12 (first half)
Gillette begins his search for the killer by accessing his “tools”; computer programs hidden away in the Los Alamos Nuclear Weapons Research Facility. He has a 17 character password. Gillette looses himself in chat rooms, newsgroups, and websites. He finds the first real clues to Phate himself. He identifies Phate with Shawn who together created the virus "Trapdoor." Gillette works on a program to search for Phate and Shawn and the person who spoke about them on line, Triple X.
Web browsers and cloaking devices, traces were discussed. The Web, Usenet, IRC, and BBS were spoken to again. Robot demon programs were described. The internet was portrayed as having two faces; the commercial, educational side for civilians and the unsuspecting, and the unseen digital and character command side aggressively trying to protect and access information.