The prediction, in brief:

You deserve at least as much anonymity on the Net as you have when you cast a vote, post an anonymous tract, or buy a newspaper from a coin-operated rack. In fact, you should demand a stronger right on the Net. Otherwise, authorities will find it easy to track, sort, and record your digital behavior. You should thus demand the right to use the most powerful encryption available. Uploading a robust right to anonymity calls for public key cryptography.

Predictor: Bell, Tom W.

Prediction, in context:

In a 1995 article for Wired magazine, Tom Bell, a teacher at the University of Dayton Law School, writes:”Who benefits from digital anonymity? Whistle-blowers, victims of abuse, and troubled people seeking counseling. Political insiders, the politically incorrect, and insurrectionists. Gays, lesbians, and bored straights. Bad poets. People trying the fit of another skin. Virtually everyone. You.You deserve at least as much anonymity on the Net as you have when you cast a vote, post an anonymous tract, or buy a newspaper from a coin-operated rack. In fact, you should demand a stronger right on the Net. Otherwise, authorities will find it easy to track, sort, and record your digital behavior. You should thus demand the right to use the most powerful encryption available. Uploading a robust right to anonymity calls for public key cryptography, such as that found in Phil Zimmerman’s Pretty Good Privacy freeware. David Chaum and other cryptographers have designed public key systems that provide anonymous two-way messages, digital signatures, secure and fraud-resistant pseudonyms, and electronic cash. Together, these tools combine the convenience and security of realspace with the speed and interconnectivity of dataspace. The Supreme Court’s call for narrowly tailored restrictions that leave speech as free as possible should prevent an outright ban on anonymous remailers.”

Date of prediction: January 1, 1995

Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues

Subtopic: Anonymity/Personal Identity

Name of publication: Wired

Title, headline, chapter name: ‘Anonymous Speech’: Imagine Combining Free Speech with Your Right to Privacy

Quote Type: Direct quote

Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.10/cyber.rights_pr.html

This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney