Kristo Ivanov, Informatik: On privacy, integrity, and freedom of expression

This seminar relates to, but does not presuppose, my previous seminar of March 13th on contributions of systems thinking to information technology (http://www.informatik.umu.se/seminarier/2002/ ). I will start from various theoretical conceptions of data, information and knowledge, and will relate the personal data act (in Swedish: personuppgiftslagen 1998:204) to theories of informatics and to conceptions of political science and law, such as democracy, security and privacy vs. participation, as suggested in my book (1986). Systemutveckling och rättssäkerhet [Systems development and rule of law], Stockholm, (esp. pp. 40-52). As far time allows, the matter will also be related to mass media terminology, to various definitions like person, privacy, integrity, objectivity, neutrality, polemics, trust, etc., and to the exchange of arguments between personnel at our department and the president of the university seconded by the university's legal adviser who formalized the rules limiting the use of the World Wide Web in the decision Dnr 102-573-02 dated March 26th 2002. The seminar will be held in Swedish unless there is some participant who only understands English, but questions can in any case be put in English.

Seminar references:

(1) DHEW. (1973). Records, computers, and the rights of citizens. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Health, Education & Welfare. (DHEW Publication No. (OS)73-94, US Government Printing Office No. 1700-00116.)

(2) Grip, A., & Ivanov, K. (1974). De offentliga ADB-systemens inverkan på förvaltning och samhälle [Public informations systems' effects on public administration and society] (Res. report No. 10). Linköping University, Dept. of Economics. (Report to the Swedish Committee on the Coordination of Data, Ds Fi 1973:10, sect. 5.3 - 5.6.)

(3) Grip, A., Ivanov, K., & Rönnow, H. H. (1974). ADB system och kommunikation [ADP systems and communication]. Lund: Studentlitteratur

(4) Ivanov, K. (1975). Oförutsedda användningar av data: En allvarlig fara för integriteten. Administrations Tema, (2). (Statskontoret.)

(5) Anér, K. (1975). Datamakt. Stockholm: Gummessons

(6) Ivanov, K. (1986). Systemutveckling och rättssäkerhet [Systems development and rule of law]. Stockholm: SAF

(7) Anonymous. (2001). Stop signs on the web. The Internet was supposed to be all about freedom. That is why the governments want to regulate it. It is far from certain whether freedom, or government control , will win the day. The Economist, (January 11th). (http://www.economist.com/PrinterFriendly.cfm?Story_ID=471742 accessed 10 April 2002.)

(8) Anonymous. (2002). Secrets and lives: How should the needs of academic enquiry and national security be balanced? The Economist, (Mar 7th). (http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=1021301, accessed 10 April 2002.)

(9) Ågren, P.-O. (2002). Så tystas universitetets fria röster. Västerbottens-Kuriren, (14 mars)

(10) Täljedal, I.-B. (2002). Skrivelse angående regler för utnyttjande av www vid Umeå universitet. Umeå: Umeå Universitet, Rektor. (Beslut 020326 Dnr 102-573-02.)

(11) Ågren, P.-O. (2002). En pyrrhusseger. Västerbottens-Kuriren, (3 april), 5

(12) Täljedal, I.-B. (2002). PUL, Ågren och friheten. Västerbottens-Kuriren, (6 april), 5

(14) Ågren, P.-O. (2002). Min tolkning är väl underbyggd. Västerbottens-Kuriren, (6 april), 5

(15) Andersson, C. (2002). Universitetet stoppar hemsida: Umeå universitet förbjuder forskare att publicera artiklar med personuppgifter på högskolans hemsida. Statstjänstemannen, (5)

The personal data act 1998:204 can be retrieved at the following URLs: (English) Datainspektionen (Swedish) Notisum

Concerning the problem area "Internet restrictions and censorship" in the USA as reported by The Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.com/indepth/cda/. A Swedish more general counterpart is http://www.pul.nu.

The updated version of this seminar call can be retrieved at: www.informatik.umu.se/seminarier/2002

Välkomna!
Mikael Wiberg