Without some safeguards, the Internet could “collapse in a flurry of useless information.” As more and more business is conducted electronically, millions of transaction details are being stored in databases every day. “Everything could be recorded and collected and exchanged.”
Predictor: Rotenberg, Marc
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 article for The Washington Times, Doug Abrahms interviews Marc Rotenberg, director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), in telling about a lawsuit regarding the selling of names of individuals to companies for use in sending junk mail over the Internet. Abrahms writes: ”This lawsuit is over more than just junk mail, said EPIC’s Mr. Rotenberg. The larger issue is how much control people have over information about themselves. ‘Things have changed. Businesses have grown. The amount of personal data has mushroomed,’ he said. ‘Here we are at the doorstep of the Information Age.’ Companies troll the Internet searching for e-mail addresses, which are used to send junk mail, Mr. Rotenberg said. Without some safeguards, the Internet could ‘collapse in a flurry of useless information,’ he said. As more and more business is conducted electronically, millions of transaction details are being stored in databases every day. ‘Everything could be recorded and collected and exchanged,’ Mr. Rotenberg said.”
Biography:Marc Rotenberg, was founder and director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), in the 1990s. He won an EFF Pioneer Award in 1997 for his work as a “champion of privacy, human rights and civil liberties on the electronic frontier.” He targeted the impact of computer and telecommunications technologies on freedom and privacy and was an active writer and speaker on associated topics. (Advocate/Voice of the People.)
Date of prediction: November 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Communication
Subtopic: E-mail
Name of publication: Washington Times
Title, headline, chapter name: Suit Hits Sale of Names to Junk Mailers
Quote Type: Partial quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe/document?_m=725df18956549e2fa3d6ddb9ca6ff318&_docnum=1&wchp=dGLbVzz-lSlzV&_md5=7071ed0a9679449d8a5d5cd6a58040b8
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Stevens, Shawn