Finding an allegory for net privacy issues

As the "e-volution" spirals into its golden age, net privacy is increasingly a salient concern for computer scientists and civil rights experts. To describe what they believe to be the lack of privacy online, many television commentators, politicians and academics evoke the Orwellian image of "Big Brother."

But is the "Big Brother" image a correct one? According to Seton Hall law professor Daniel Solove, "Kafkaesque" is a more applicable literary metaphor for net privacy. Solove, who teaches a course on privacy, argues in a 70-page thesis that the behind-the-scenes gathering of information more closely resembles Franz Kafka's "The Trial" — in which mysterious officials build a dossier about the main character — than George Orwell's images of "Big Brother's" constant surveillance in "1984."

As "The Trial" opens, Joseph K. is arrested for an unknown reason but allowed to live his normal life while a vast court compiles a detailed file about him. Despite his attempts, Joseph K. never discovers the reason for his arrest and is eventually convicted and executed at the novel's conclusion.

"Kafka definitely should be used. 'Big Brother' is overused and only captures a small part of the problem," Solove explained in an interview. "The problem is very complex, and I think the complexity of the problem is what Kafka captures — that information is thrown into a bureaucratic process that is often irresponsible or secret and is often out of control.

"It's not a lack of freedom as much as a lack of power," he noted.

During the past decade, the ability of companies to collect and correlate information about Web users has become much easier. With marketing companies that track every surf into cyberspace, large companies can create an elaborate profile of individual Web users. Firms can then purchase the dossiers to target prospective clients.

"When you wander around the Web you are being watched with things like cookies and logs," explained computer science professor Brian Kernighan, who has published books on the C programming language and Unix operating system.

Nearly all Web browsers accept cookies that are sent by a site's server and stored on an unaware surfer's computer. These cookies — which generally are benign — remember user preferences such as the computer's identification number, e-mail address and the sites visited. They may be used, however, to monitor browsing habits for commercial purposes — a function that many net privacy experts consider a potential problem.

"Every time you search the Web, companies are getting information about where you go and what you do," said computer science professor Edward Felten, who co-directs the University's Secure Internet Programming Laboratory.

"There are questions about what information they know about us, how that information about us should be treated. Should it be protected? Should third parties need our permission to pass on information about us?" he said.

This gathering of information by companies is what Solove refers to as the key distinction between the "Kafkaesque" metaphor and the allusion to "Big Brother." Most of the time, the information about a Web user's browsing and online buying habits are tracked by a computer rather than by a human being. Though that computer technically is monitoring the user's behavior, there is no direct surveillance of one human being on another as in Orwell's "telescreen" model.

"Instead of a visual picture, they're getting data information about me," Solove said.

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But the information does not inhibit people's behavior, according to Solove. In contrast, in "1984," ordinary citizens with minor eccentricities like Winston Smith censor their behavior for fear of being suspected of serious crimes.

Because most of the information the companies gather is public knowledge, Solove believes people are not embarrassed to have this data known. While the metaphors seem interchangeable and the distinction trivial, Solove argues that an incorrect metaphor creates difficulties in finding a solution.

"The way we understand the problem has dramatic effects on how we solve the problem," he said. "The policy implications of the way we define something is extremely important. It's like John Dewey said, 'A problem well put is half solved.' "

As Dewey raised critical issues about education, Solove hopes to spark discussion about net privacy policies. He plans to publish his paper, titled "Privacy and Power: Computer Databases and Metaphors for Information Privacy" in a major law journal this fall.

But Felten believes linking technology and literature may confuse the policy concerning net privacy. "I don't think either one is really a perfect analogy," he said. "Each one has some usefulness as a metaphor, but if you're looking for a metaphor in literature, I really don't see one."

Felten's notion, however, is only one opinion. German professor Stanley Corngold — who has taught many courses on Kafka at Princeton — notes that while a metaphor may exist, he fails to see any parallel between net privacy concerns and incidents in "The Trial." He countered that Joseph K.'s existential battle with himself fails to relate to the daily use of the Internet.

"Kafka doesn't quite fit," Corngold said. "It begins with someone being arrested. A Web user is unlikely to experience an arrest. How do these two concepts fit? When do I need to justify my Web use? A Web user is more likely to insist on his rights than saying that he's guilty."

As Joseph K. unsuccessfully struggles to discover the reason for his arrest, guilt invades his conscience and, in a sense, brings about his own conviction.

Winston Smith, on the other hand, is eventually arrested and transformed into an emotionless conformist after he is discovered at an underground meeting of an anti-"Big Brother" faction.

Though both dystopia do not encapsulate the technology age's concerns about net privacy — they were created during the rise of totalitarian regimes in the first half of the 20th century — allusions to them may provide insight for those without a grasp of the inner workings of the Internet.

A flawless metaphor, however, may be difficult to find in the countless pages of literature.

"Both metaphors are applicable so we're not sure what the correct metaphor would be," English professor William Gleason said, "or maybe what we need is to create a new metaphor."