SciAm Perspectives: Seven Paths to Privacy; September 2008; Scientific American Magazine; by The Editors; 1 Page(s)

Browne was an Anglican minister, and his dark view of the human spirit as weak and prone to wickedness without the constant ¿support¿ of a community of spies and informers had enormous influence on the New England Puritans. Both quotations are drawn from Robert Ellis Smith¿s essential study of the history of privacy in America, Ben Franklin¿s Web Site.

Those two deeply rooted but antagonistic approaches to privacy have simmered together for centuries, but today converging forces in politics, technology, commerce and law have brought them to a boil. We offer seven policy recommendations that would help preserve Washington¿s idyllic picture of private life without having to endure Browne¿s nightmare.