Dear Prof. Clark:
I received a copy of your solicitation for papers via the Coalition for Networked Information copyright list server. A colleague at Resources for the Future, Molly Macauley, and I have begun some research involving privacy and data technology, in an important yet somewhat neglected area-- remote sensing satellites, which can detect increasingly fine detail about activities on the planet's surface and transmit such information to its purchasers, including the news media, without the consent of those observed.
I've included below a somewhat longer description of our research plan. If you would be interested in including a policy assessment of remote sensing satellite technology, economics, and regulation with regard to privacy, please let us know soon, so we can prepare something to meet your deadline.
Best regards,
Tim Brennan
(Prospectus follows)
Remote Sensing Satellites--Industry Structure and Privacy
Molly Macauley, Senior Fellow, Resources for the Future, Washington, DC
Tim Brennan, Professor, Policy Sciences, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD
Our paper will explore economic and political questions associated with the remote-sensing satellite (RRSSS) technology used to make detailed observations of both natural and man-made earth surface features and their implications for privacy and data access.
Two developments are making these policy problems more acute.
The first arises from improvements in RSS technology. The size of electronic memories and speed of data processing have increased the resolution of RSS cameras to the point where objects with dimensions no greater than a meter will be identifiable in the near future; finer resolution is surely on the way. This capability will likely force a conflict between increasing the use of this technology to identify resource sites, manage their development, and monitor environmental degradation, and exposing citizens and businesses to unanticipated and unsolicited invasion of privacy.
The second impetus for considering privacy implications of remote sensing satellites is that the current structure of that industry is in flux. The incentives and ability of RSS service providers to generate, sell, and abuse information they gather will depend on the economic consequences of proposals to privatize the provision of RSS data. In the U.S., these satellites have heretofore been managed by the Defense Department and NASA. The policy problems may be acute because the private operator of these satellites may be an effective monopolist, but potentially subject to some form of price constraint as part of the RpriceS of becoming the data provider. Future competition facilitated by open entry into the RSS industry may affect the effectiveness of laws and policies designed to protect the privacy rights of the observed.
We plan to apply regulatory economic principles we have developed in previous work to analyze price and structural regulation in the telecommunications industry to help society to use this important resource management technology more efficiently. Price constraints give the RSS firm incentives to diversify into vertically related markets, and discriminate against downstream competitors in access to or quality of RSS data. Rules limiting vertical integration of RSS data providers into data processing or resource management might discourage such discrimination and promote efficiency and equitable access to dataQ-if economies of scope between data provision and data application are not great. Limits on vertical integration might also decrease an RSS providerUs incentive to evade regulations protecting privacy rights.
Sound resource management policy will require careful analysis of the perceived costs from loss of privacy and assessment of proposed remedies. This examination will require a combination of scientific, economic, legal, and philosophical perspectives. Policy makers regard the RSS privacy issue as both very significant and heretofore neglected. We hope we can provide some answers to these questions before the policy debates ossify into irreversible positions.
Thanks again,
Tim Brennan Received on Fri Nov 04 1994 - 22:00:40 GMT
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