Re: Important Information about IETF 76 Meeting Registration

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At 09:56 31-08-2009, Steve Crocker wrote:
This sort of discussion is similar to other settings that are
introducing electronic versions of previously manual processes, e.g.
in the health care industry.  Let me offer a point of view and a
suggestion.

[snip]

Suggestion: As noted above, similar issues apply in other settings.
This community has an opportunity to tackle the interplay of
technology and social policy issues that affect itself far more
cogently and efficiently than most communities do.  Let's grasp the
nettles and see if we can work through the issues in a sensible and
rational way.  Do we need a privacy policy regarding the information
collected?  If so, let's create one.  Do we need access controls on
the information?  If so, let's create them.  Do we need an ability to
edit information that's been collected if it's inaccurate?  If so,
let's build it.  Do we need more flexibility in the information stored
in the record, e.g. a distinct email address for each working group?
If so, let's add it.

I think that the above covers the larger issue. This is not the usual IETF experiment. It is a social experiment.

There was a time when the IETF was a trend-setter. We can take the view where the IETF only "publishes" technical specifications and it cannot influence how the technology is used. Or we can take this opportunity to understand the social impact of the technologies. We have all heard the argument "it's only the 'bad' people who should have something to fear about".

The bluesheet is a piece of paper which is used as an attendance sheet for Working Group sessions. It would take some work and time to aggregate the information or do data mining on it. That's one advantage (or disadvantage) of paper records. With the advent of information technology, it takes less time to aggregate information stored in digital form. The e-bluesheet system uses a "tag-reader" where we still have a manual process to "sign" (or avoid signing) the attendance sheet.

The following is unrelated to the existing e-bluesheet experiment.

Let's go one step further. Imagine the entire floor space criss-crossed by scanners that can pick a RFID tag automatically. That is, we can pinpoint the participants in a room or hallway and collect information about "social clusters" within the different areas. We could identify where the I* bodies are and who are interacting with these people. This is not your usual (Web 2.0) social network where you list your friends. It's more than that as we do not have to ask you to list your interests. We can get that information from our "tracking" system. We can determine who is talking to NomCom.

If you want to create the above as an experiment, separate the "tag" IDs from the personal information about the participant. Correlate the information in real-time to show the participants what can be done and destroy the "mapping" immediately after the end of the meeting. I don't have to tell you not to use the Internet to publish the real-time information as you already know what will happen.

We tend to use the anonymity of the crowd as a protection. That is no longer true with the technologies that are available nowadays. We can identify "individuals of interest" and access information about them easily.

Regards,
-sm
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