Re: Consent

In general, I think your classifications are on the right track.

At 3:18 PM -0500 8/20/01, Chris M. Lonvick wrote:
>At 3:16 PM -0400 8/22/01, Adam Shostack wrote:
>>Mandated-disclosure: There is a policy requirement from the
>>provider of the service to reveal information. This may be from
>>their adherence to local laws.
>
>I think it may be useful to distinguish between the contractual and
>legal obligations, because I may be willing to disregard one and not
>the other.
>
>>Needed-disclosure: There is a requirement to reveal the
>>information in order to make the service work. For example, if I call
>>1-800-find-gas to get the nearest gas station, I may expect that my
>>location will be transmitted.

These two are nasty. Chris is right to be careful about introducing
something representing a legal decision into the classification. But
Adam is right, there's no inherent harm marking the disclosure as
legally required, as that can be set according to governing law. The
problem is determining governing law. Let's say I acquired my device
in a place where there is no mandated-disclosure requirement. Then I
attempt to use it in a place where mandated disclosure is required.
What's the precedence?

Needed-disclosure and mandated-disclosure overlap in meaning. Both
imply an obligation. After all, the police need to know where you
are to respond to your 911 call. Is that a mandated-disclosure or a
needed-disclosure? If my agreement with AAA says that every time I
call for roadside assistance my location is transmitted to their
dispatcher is that mandated or needed?

It's probably more important that the location that is transmitted by
the sender is encoded in such a way that it can only be used for the
purpose the sender allows. If I call 1-800-find-gas, I may not want
to receive a list of fast-food joints along with the list of nearby
gas stations -- or maybe I do.

But a taxonomy of disclosure is a real good idea.

-- 
john noerenberg
jwn2@qualcomm.com
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