Privacy by design: Networked computing, 1969-1979

Discourse analysis of the technical document series that records the internet design history, the RFCs, shows that those involved during the first decade saw privacy as a multi-dimensional and interactive problem requiring use of a suite of solutions at the network, individual, and data levels that had to take into account the need to balance privacy against experimentation and innovation. Internet designers were sophisticated in their pragmatic thinking about privacy when evaluated vis-a-vis theoretical developments since that time, viewing privacy as a contextual matter involving boundary setting, and using information architecture and metadata as tools for privacy protection. Those in the social science and legal communities think about the privacy effects of communication on humans, while those in the technical design community must focus on privacy as a set of logistical problems. Bringing these diverse communities into a single conversation can considerably enrich and strengthen the work of all.