Although advances in computing promise substantial benefits for individuals and society, trust in computing and communications is critical in order to realize such benefits. The hope for cybertrust is a society where trust enables technologies to support individual and societal needs without violating confidences and exacerbating public risks. Cybertrust, in part, depends upon software and hardware technologies upon which people can justifiably rely. However, the cybertrust vision requires looking beyond technical controls to consider how other forms of social control contribute to the state of cyber trust. This chapter focuses on public policy. While the chapter does not specifically use the word ethics, it should be noted that ethical issues and public policy are intimately intertwined. Policy is not formed in a moral vacuum; on the contrary, policy is inherently normative in that it prescribes, sometimes explicitly and often implicitly, what should be.
The increased reliance on and utilization of information technology in society has created the need for new regulation regarding the use and abuse of these systems. We see this clearly just by briefly inventorying some of the regulations that have been enacted to protect security and privacy.
Freedom of Information Act (1966)
Fair Credit Reporting Act (1970)
Bank Secrecy Act (1970)
Privacy Act (1974)
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (1974)
Right to Financial Privacy Act (1978)
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (1978)
Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) (1986)
Telephone Consumer Protection Act (1991)
Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (1994)
Driver's Privacy Protection Act (1994)
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) (1996)
Computer Fraud & Abuse Act (1996)
Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) (1998)
Digital Millennium Copyright Act (1998)
Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) (1999)
USA PATRIOT Act (2001)
Federal Information Security Management Act (2002)
Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (2003)
CAN-SPAM Act (2003)
45 State Data Breach Disclosure Laws1 law (2003-present)